West Paces Advisors Inc. Sells 43 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

West Paces Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 22.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $697,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 28.5% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 847 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter worth $232,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $795.39.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $829.29 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $713.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $702.72. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.