Keating Investment Counselors Inc. Decreases Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Keating Investment Counselors Inc. decreased its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 34.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 675 shares during the period. Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in KLA by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $4,559,000. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in KLA by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC traded up $4.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $857.72. 655,259 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 680,898. The stock has a market cap of $115.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.93, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $795.47 and a 200-day moving average of $700.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $747.40.

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.