DAVENPORT & Co LLC Raises Stock Holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,938 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 318 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $4,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in KLA by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,786 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in KLA by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,198 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,053 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in KLA by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 5,035 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,173,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 158,852 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $100,096,000 after purchasing an additional 14,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors boosted its position in KLA by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 431 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on KLAC. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $818.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was 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 owned 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Trading Down 0.7%

KLA stock traded down $6.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $914.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 489,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,132,863. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. The stock's fifty day moving average is $803.85 and its 200 day moving average is $732.99. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $928.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.54.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. 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%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

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

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.