AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Invests $213,000 in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 314 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 10.4% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 61,186 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $41,594,000 after acquiring an additional 5,769 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,954 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $11,525,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 3.8% during the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 877 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 18.4% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,077 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,131,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 2.6% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,230 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,309,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was 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 now owns 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $13.07 on Friday, reaching $889.87. 1,175,356 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,128,467. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $914.83. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $773.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $722.42. The company has a market cap of $117.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.40. 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced 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. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding 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 typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $815.39.

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.