OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Reduces Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora trimmed its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,504 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. KLA accounts for approximately 1.4% of OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $688.42.

KLA Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $6.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $652.83. The company had a trading volume of 174,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,567. The stock has a market cap of $88.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $684.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $591.25. KLA Co. has a one year low of $355.88 and a one year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.