Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 302 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Patton Fund Management Inc. decreased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,198 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in KLA by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 256 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 85.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $2.92 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $453.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 77,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,568. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.35. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $250.20 and a fifty-two week high of $520.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $486.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $439.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.24.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The semiconductor company reported $5.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. KLA had a net margin of 32.27% and a return on equity of 138.06%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.81 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.11 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 14th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.59%.

KLA declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on KLA from $480.00 to $570.00 in a report on Monday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on KLA from $445.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $410.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $463.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 66 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.30, for a total transaction of $31,369.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,041,694.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 66 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.30, for a total transaction of $31,369.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,041,694.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 3,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,530,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,909,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,986 shares of company stock worth $22,071,950 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.