Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. cut its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in KLA in the first quarter valued at approximately $379,678,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after purchasing an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $720,936,000 after purchasing an additional 211,227 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of KLA by 2,205.8% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $166,215,000 after purchasing an additional 192,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in KLA by 136.2% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 309,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $214,667,000 after buying an additional 178,474 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $664.63 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $452.01 and a 12 month high of $896.32. 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 company has a market cap of $89.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $764.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $764.02.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $804.57.

About KLA

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.