Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Has $36.36 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in KLA Corporation by 31.5%, now holding 53,480 shares, making KLA the fund's 5th largest position.
• KLA Corporation reported $8.41 EPS for the most recent quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and achieved a 35.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a stock repurchase plan allowing it to buy back up to $5.00 billion in outstanding shares as a signal of management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 31.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,480 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 24,539 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up approximately 2.7% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $36,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in KLA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,273,118,000 after acquiring an additional 14,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,046,472,000 after acquiring an additional 31,608 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,175,756,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in KLA by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,061,878,000 after acquiring an additional 204,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in KLA by 95,141.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,138,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672,589 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA 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 owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,035.00 price target (up previously from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $858.19.

KLA Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of KLAC traded up $7.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $923.34. 329,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,156,394. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $867.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $765.12. The company has a market cap of $122.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $945.87. 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 data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 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 analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 0.82%. KLA's payout ratio is 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.