Wedmont Private Capital Buys 873 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 65.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,211 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in KLA were worth $1,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its position in KLA by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,628,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in KLA by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,211 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $45,502,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $126,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $808.00 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $710.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $701.39. 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 $106.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G 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.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.26 earnings per share. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. KLA's payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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