Allworth Financial LP Has $9.65 Million Stock Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 53.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,001 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 4,885 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP's holdings in KLA were worth $9,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,175,756,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 95,141.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,138,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,589 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 381.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $462,085,000 after purchasing an additional 580,967 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,191,262 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $750,638,000 after purchasing an additional 300,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $187,212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $840.33.

KLA Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $4.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $924.58. The stock had a trading volume of 570,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,136,402. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.54. The company has a market cap of $122.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $932.17. The company's 50 day moving average is $826.84 and its 200-day moving average is $742.83.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

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

About KLA

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.