Allen Capital Group LLC Purchases 785 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Allen Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 23.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,168 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $2,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in KLA by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,674,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in KLA by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $93,624,000 after buying an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective (up from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $840.33.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of KLAC traded down $9.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $927.52. 283,636 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,133,318. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $950.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $846.00 and a 200-day moving average of $750.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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.