KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 52,719 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 815 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $56,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of KLA by 11.2% during the third quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 9,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,005,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $292,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments increased its position in shares of KLA by 631.6% during the 2nd quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 15,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,603,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Oak Associates Ltd. OH raised its stake in shares of KLA by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $80,721,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at $237,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.0%

KLA stock opened at $1,524.55 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,427.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,204.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.83. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $1,693.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.20 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $1,575.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,450.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, New Street Research increased their price objective on KLA from $1,315.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,601.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About KLA

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.