KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 226,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 25,344 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $175,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 17.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,724,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 49.9% during the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,922,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 3,496 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC traded down $8.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $699.20. The stock had a trading volume of 771,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,346. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $452.01 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $774.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $765.30. 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.13 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 issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on KLA in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $804.57.

KLA Company 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.