3,014 Shares in KLA Corporation $KLAC Acquired by Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA

Key Points

• Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA bought a new stake of 3,014 shares in KLA during Q3, valued at roughly $3.25 million, joining other institutions in a stock that has about 86.65% institutional ownership.
• Analysts have grown more bullish—several firms raised targets and ratings—leaving KLA with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target near $1,601.
• KLA recently beat quarterly expectations with $8.85 EPS vs. $8.75 expected and $3.30 billion in revenue (up 7.1% year-over-year), and it pays a quarterly dividend of $1.90 (≈0.5% yield).

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA bought a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,014 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $3,251,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 119.4% during the third quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 79 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,750.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Dbs Bank raised KLA from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,630.00 target price on KLA in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,800.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,601.04.

KLA Stock Up 1.7%

KLAC opened at $1,452.94 on Wednesday. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $551.33 and a one year high of $1,693.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.45. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $1,452.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,231.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The business's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

KLA Profile

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA's offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.

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