180 Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

180 Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 36.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 685 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 389 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Custom Index Systems LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 394 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $331,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of KLA by 232.5% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,839 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,090,000 after buying an additional 8,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tritonpoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 414 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Up 1.8%

KLAC stock traded up $13.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $775.79. The company had a trading volume of 943,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,089,118. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $102.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $701.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $696.68.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.26 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. KLA's payout ratio is 27.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays cut 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 report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $799.58.

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.