Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 15.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer started coverage on KLA in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $804.57.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $5.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $667.92. The stock had a trading volume of 220,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 934,571. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $89.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $769.09 and its 200 day moving average is $764.81. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $452.01 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.13 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

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.