Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Cuts Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 169,861 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 537 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in KLA were worth $140,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Capital Market Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the second quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 2.6% during the second quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 548 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. United Community Bank grew its stake in shares of KLA by 4.0% during the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 2.7% during the second quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 567 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value 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 $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 5.7 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $772.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $774.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $754.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.80.

KLA Company 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.