Insider Selling: KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CAO Sells $536,118.00 in Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

KLA Trading Up 7.8 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $752.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $803.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $726.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. 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 posted 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. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $990.00 to $960.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company 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.