Edgestream Partners L.P. Lowers Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 30.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,591 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 684 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in KLA by 2,033.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in KLA by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on KLA in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $820.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays raised shares of KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $630.00 to $765.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, April 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $771.65.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.5 %

KLAC stock traded down $4.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $805.08. 187,281 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 883,348. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $806.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $711.68. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.27.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.