FourThought Financial Partners LLC Purchases 12,268 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in KLA Corporation by 251.9%, now owning 17,138 shares valued at approximately $11.65 million, which is about 1.2% of its total holdings.
• KLA Corporation recently announced a $5 billion stock repurchase plan as part of its strategy to buy back shares, indicating that the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company also increased its quarterly dividend from $1.70 to $1.90, representing an annualized yield of 0.84%, with a dividend payout ratio of 27.63%.

FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 251.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,138 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 12,268 shares during the period. KLA accounts for approximately 1.2% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. FourThought Financial Partners LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $11,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the first quarter valued at about $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 40.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,674,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the first quarter worth about $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $93,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $858.19.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $5.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $921.20. 350,149 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,156,817. The firm's 50-day moving average is $867.33 and its 200-day moving average is $765.12. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $945.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of $121.82 billion, a PE ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

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

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. This represents 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 worth $8,196,798 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.