Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 44.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in KLA by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,559,000. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in KLA by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $811,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on KLA in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $820.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $805.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,332 shares of company stock worth $9,031,630. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $12.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $716.22. 1,195,348 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 936,208. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $807.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $725.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $96.43 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. 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.