KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by D. Scott Neal Inc.

D. Scott Neal Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,967 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 414 shares during the period. KLA accounts for approximately 4.5% of D. Scott Neal Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. D. Scott Neal Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $8,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $804.57.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $678.52 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $770.77 and a 200-day moving average of $763.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $452.01 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $91.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. KLA’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.13 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.