Richard P. Wallace Sells 14,009 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $6.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $710.67. The company had a trading volume of 976,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,193. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $380.50 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $690.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $612.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for 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 company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. United Community Bank grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.0% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its position in KLA by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in KLA by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $722.26.

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.