ING Groep NV Decreases Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in KLA Corporation by 4.8%, dropping to 43,265 shares worth approximately $29.4 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• KLA Corporation reported $9.38 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and had a revenue of $3.17 billion, marking a 23.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company's Board of Directors authorized a $5 billion share repurchase plan, enabling the buyback of up to 5.4% of its shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

ING Groep NV cut its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,265 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 2,187 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in KLA were worth $29,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 33,705 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $22,913,000 after buying an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co lifted its position in shares of KLA by 35.8% in the first quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 3,432 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,333,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.0% in the first quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 4,133 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 117.2% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 17,505 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $11,900,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $886.64 on Monday. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $945.87. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $875.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $769.31. The stock has a market cap of $117.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.44.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. KLA had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 112.41%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.60 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.01%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm's 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. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $950.00 target price (up from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.

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.

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