KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Rating) CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,020 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.02, for a total transaction of $343,760.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 64,257 shares in the company, valued at $21,655,894.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $15.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $353.28. 1,434,847 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,493,051. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $287.44 and a 1 year high of $457.12. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $340.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $374.24.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The semiconductor company reported $5.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.80 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. KLA had a net margin of 36.41% and a return on equity of 78.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 20.91 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 13th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.39%.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $480.00 to $440.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of KLA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Sunday, March 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $435.75.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Norges Bank bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $598,653,000. C2C Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $401,488,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in KLA by 53,951.8% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 584,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $252,104,000 after acquiring an additional 583,219 shares in the last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $241,793,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in KLA by 128.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 921,422 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $337,296,000 after purchasing an additional 517,870 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.13% of the company’s stock.

About KLA (Get Rating)

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries worldwide. The company offers chip and wafer manufacturing products, including defect inspection and review systems, metrology solutions, in situ process monitoring products, computational lithography software, and data analytics systems for chip manufacturers to manage yield throughout the semiconductor fabrication process.

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