Norway Savings Bank Sells 367 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Norway Savings Bank reduced its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 367 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of KLA by 118.9% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 81 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Advisors raised its stake in KLA by 185.4% during the first quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 85.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on KLA from $445.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on KLA from $490.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on KLA from $450.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $463.11.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 2,738 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,369,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,942 shares in the company, valued at $10,471,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 2,738 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,369,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,942 shares in the company, valued at $10,471,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.08, for a total value of $17,642,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,045 shares in the company, valued at $62,528,603.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,986 shares of company stock valued at $22,071,950 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $25.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $454.22. 2,831,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,069,655. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $486.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $438.11. KLA Co. has a one year low of $250.20 and a one year high of $520.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market cap of $62.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.35.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The semiconductor company reported $5.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 138.06% and a net margin of 32.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.81 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.59%.

KLA announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.