KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Acquired by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 86.6% in Q4 to 4,063 shares worth about $4.94 million, and roughly 86.65% of KLAC is owned by institutional investors.
• KLA beat Q4 estimates with EPS $8.85 (vs. $8.75 expected) and revenue of $3.30 billion (+7.1% YoY), and its board approved a $7.0 billion stock buyback authorization (up to ~3.7% of shares).
• Shares opened around $1,734.85 (market cap ~$227.4B) near their 52‑week high, and analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” with a target near $1,614.79.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 86.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,063 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $4,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,251,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.4% during the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in KLA by 1.2% during the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 836 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in KLA by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 267 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in KLA by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 0.8%

KLAC stock opened at $1,734.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $227.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.48, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,513.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,340.02. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $607.70 and a 52 week high of $1,798.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.20 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. KLA's payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Dbs Bank raised KLA from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Argus lifted their price objective on KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,750.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $1,835.00 target price on KLA and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on KLA from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on KLA from $1,760.00 to $1,770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,614.79.

KLA Company Profile

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA's offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.

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