Leisure Capital Management Sells 547 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Leisure Capital Management cut its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,616 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 547 shares during the quarter. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Consolidated Planning Corp increased its position in shares of KLA by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 713 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 114 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. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in KLA by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 40,469 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,572,000 after acquiring an additional 8,110 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

KLA stock traded up $33.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $706.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $685.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $599.79. The firm has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $369.00 and a 12-month high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 103.31% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $720.42.

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.