American National Bank & Trust Has $9.29 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

American National Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,997 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,159,832,000 after acquiring an additional 76,226 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in KLA by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in KLA by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,318,329,000 after purchasing an additional 28,172 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,829,352,000 after purchasing an additional 71,289 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of KLA by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $777.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $104.66 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $448.31 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $768.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $759.26.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna cut their target price on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $808.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.