Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 890,607 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,551 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.67% of KLA worth $605,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in KLA during the first quarter worth approximately $3,415,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 864.4% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,294 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $5,638,000 after acquiring an additional 7,434 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in KLA by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 233 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. acquired a new stake in KLA during the 1st quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in KLA by 2.1% during the first quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,199 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,973,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. This trade 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 company insiders.
KLA Stock Up 0.3%
KLAC traded up $2.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $914.80. The company had a trading volume of 719,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,018,441. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $888.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $774.11. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $945.87. The company has a market capitalization of $120.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.85. KLA had a return on equity of 112.41% and a net margin of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.60 earnings per share. KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
KLA announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
KLA Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.01%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,035.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.
View Our Latest Analysis on KLA
About KLA
(
Free Report)
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.
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