Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC Sells 70 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,221 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. KLA makes up approximately 2.0% of Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of KLA by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $720.42.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $33.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $706.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a one year low of $369.00 and a one year high of $729.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $685.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $599.79.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About KLA

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.