Paradiem LLC Sells 1,614 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Paradiem LLC reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,501 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,614 shares during the period. Paradiem LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $3,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Bank OZK bought a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $239,000. Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its stake in KLA by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 713 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in KLA by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 40,469 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $23,572,000 after purchasing an additional 8,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 643 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. UBS Group upped their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price target (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $720.42.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $33.31 on Friday, reaching $706.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The firm has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $369.00 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $685.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $601.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 103.31% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. The business's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. KLA's payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

About KLA

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.