China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 1,905 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 30.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,212 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 1,905 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in KLA were worth $5,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in KLA in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in KLA by 527.3% during the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 69 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $833.89.

KLA Trading Up 0.6%

KLAC traded up $5.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $917.79. The stock had a trading volume of 269,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,131,309. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $808.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $736.46. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $121.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $928.02.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 paid a $1.90 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. KLA's payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

About KLA

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.