310 Shares in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Bought by McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. bought a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 310 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD grew its stake in KLA by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders have sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded down $7.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $867.67. 1,832,159 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,113,838. The firm has a market cap of $114.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $734.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $708.16. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. KLA's payout ratio is 27.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective 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. TD Securities increased their price objective 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. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $795.39.

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.