KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Bought by Alpha Cubed Investments LLC

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 248.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,723 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $1,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth $35,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of KLA by 527.3% during the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 69 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $7.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $926.37. 253,959 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,132,830. The stock has a market cap of $122.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $931.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $812.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $737.73.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business's revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.26 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 paid a $1.90 dividend. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. KLA's payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $833.89.

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.