KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Acquired by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 120.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,766 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,715 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.05% of KLA worth $48,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on KLA from $770.00 to $922.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on KLA from $1,035.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $950.00 target price (up from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $890.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $7.61 on Friday, hitting $886.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,474,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,113. The firm has a market cap of $117.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $872.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $767.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. 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 data on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 119.79% and a net margin of 33.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $1.90 dividend. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. KLA's payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.