PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,193 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 526 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 7.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $4,559,000. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in 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 increased its holdings in KLA by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $863.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $735.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $666.47. The company has a market cap of $116.24 billion, a PE ratio of 45.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $440.15 and a 12-month high of $876.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Raymond James raised their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value 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. Insiders sold 33,136 shares of company stock worth $24,016,781 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.