Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Increases Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,186 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,769 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in KLA were worth $41,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its holdings in KLA by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $815.39.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded down $13.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $889.87. 1,175,356 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,128,467. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $914.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $778.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $724.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.40.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA 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.