Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Invests $3.06 Million in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,446 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $3,059,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. IFC Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 4.6% in the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 3.8% in the first quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 3.3% in the first quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 4.7% in the first quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 381 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,035.00 price target (up from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $840.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ KLAC traded down $5.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $931.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 681,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,522. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $846.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $750.77. The stock has a market cap of $123.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $945.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.