Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Sells 829 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. reduced its stake in KLA Corporation by 15.4%, selling 829 shares and holding a total of 4,550 shares valued at approximately $3.09 million.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Confluence Wealth Services Inc., made significant changes to their positions in KLA, indicating increased interest in the company.
• KLA Corporation recently reported $9.38 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a $5.00 billion stock buyback plan that allows purchasing up to 5.4% of its shares.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. cut its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 15.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,550 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 829 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $3,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in KLA by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. IFC Advisors LLC boosted its position in KLA by 4.6% during the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors boosted its position in KLA by 1.3% during the first quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 3.8% during the first quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in KLA by 3.3% during the first quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on KLA from $1,035.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 price objective (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $9.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $945.11. 326,525 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,154,690. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $951.31. The company has a market cap of $124.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $894.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $776.44.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. KLA had a return on equity of 112.41% and a net margin of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.60 EPS. KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.01%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Company 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.