DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 15,155 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 294,391 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 15,155 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in KLA were worth $240,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the first 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. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $733.28 on Friday. KLA Co. has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $98.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $787.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $752.32.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on KLA from $990.00 to $960.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.52.

KLA Profile

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.