317 Shares in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Bought by Banque Pictet & Cie SA

Banque Pictet & Cie SA acquired a new position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 317 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 381 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 5.3% during the first quarter. EWA LLC now owns 339 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Down 0.4%

KLAC traded down $4.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $924.58. 570,461 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,136,402. The company has a market cap of $122.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $826.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $742.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $551.33 and a one year high of $932.17.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,035.00 target price (up from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $840.33.

KLA Company 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.