Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Decreases Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC reduced its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,173 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $3,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth approximately $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 40.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the first quarter valued at about $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted 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 buying an additional 3,846 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $840.33.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $931.12 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $850.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $754.52. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $945.87. The firm has a market cap of $123.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors 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 repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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 paid a $1.90 dividend. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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