Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Trims Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lessened its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,313 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,196 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP raised its position in KLA by 118.9% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 81 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, First Manhattan Co. raised its position in KLA by 90.0% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 3,155 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.51, for a total value of $1,424,514.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,067,558.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 3,155 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.51, for a total value of $1,424,514.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,067,558.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeneanne Michelle Hanley sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.97, for a total transaction of $254,485.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,554,394.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $545.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $74.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $546.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $477.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $467.06.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.39 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. KLA had a net margin of 30.51% and a return on equity of 119.24%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.16 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 14th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 23.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $480.00 to $570.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $410.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $450.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $475.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $507.24.

KLA Company 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.