Gallacher Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Gallacher Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 37.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 479 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in KLA by 15.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,016,000 after acquiring an additional 4,089 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 31,568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in KLA by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,256,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in KLA by 5.7% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,770,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KLAC. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

KLA Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $14.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $696.59. 820,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 889,883. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $93.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. KLA Co. has a one year low of $369.66 and a one year high of $729.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $688.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $608.56.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.