B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 424 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 26.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,178 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 424 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,117,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $357,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $154,000. Wormser Freres Gestion purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,974,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of KLAC traded up $5.56 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $762.44. 864,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,089,702. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $701.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $696.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $100.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, 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 results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.63%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on KLAC. Wall Street Zen cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $799.58.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA 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 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 KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This represents 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 have sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.