American Trust Sells 376 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

American Trust lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,508 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 376 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in KLA were worth $4,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Value Partners Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $154,000. Wormser Freres Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $119,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $15,974,000. GTS Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 911.2% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 8,177 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,152,000 after purchasing an additional 9,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 1,160 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. UBS Group increased their price target on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $799.58.

KLA Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of KLAC stock traded down $3.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $773.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 932,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,088,027. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $699.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $693.61. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $896.32. 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 company has a market cap of $102.35 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40.

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

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.