Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 9,459 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 103,458 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 9,459 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in KLA were worth $85,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Susquehanna cut their price target on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on KLA in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $820.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $805.29.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $23.68 on Friday, reaching $819.43. 1,079,251 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 925,996. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $803.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $747.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.33 billion, a PE ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.