Y.D. More Investments Ltd Decreases Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Y.D. More Investments Ltd lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 163.9% in the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $722.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

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

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded down $23.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $666.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,257,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 964,672. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $369.66 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $687.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $604.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a market cap of $89.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.95 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.