KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Position Cut by Little House Capital LLC

Little House Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 22.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,532 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,049 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $4,559,000. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in shares of KLA by 6.8% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,861 shares of company stock valued at $16,795,913. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Barclays upgraded shares of KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $630.00 to $765.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $747.40.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $824.68. 252,997 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 903,603. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $759.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $681.98. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $440.15 and a 12 month high of $876.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.03 billion, a PE ratio of 42.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. 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.