KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock: Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Lowers Holdings

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC cut its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 112,945 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,698 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises about 2.2% of Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $22,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 36.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in KLA by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its position in KLA by 2,275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomic Invest LLC lifted its position in KLA by 781.8% during the 2nd quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 97 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.26.

KLA Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of KLAC opened at $149.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $194.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $107.20 and a one year high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,167,746.53. The trade was a 43.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. Corporate insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.