Tairen Capital Ltd Sells 23,346 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Tairen Capital Ltd lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 18.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,454 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 23,346 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for approximately 3.1% of Tairen Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Tairen Capital Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $86,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 1.8 %

KLA stock opened at $758.85 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $772.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $755.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $102.17 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $440.15 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at $6,063,876.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at $6,063,876.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 worth $14,568,247 over the last three months. Corporate 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.