KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Provence Wealth Management Group

Provence Wealth Management Group trimmed its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group’s holdings in KLA were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Barclays lifted their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $14.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $696.59. 820,130 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,883. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $369.66 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $687.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $605.39.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.