KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,194 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 12,926 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in KLA were worth $23,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $93,624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $849.76.

KLA Trading Down 0.2%

KLAC traded down $2.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $902.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 807,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 836,322. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $862.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $761.33. 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 stock has a market cap of $119.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $945.87.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The company 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%. KLA's revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. KLA's payout ratio is 27.63%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.