Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Has $7.03 Million Stock Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,334 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,410 shares during the period. KLA makes up 1.5% of Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $7,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,273,118,000 after purchasing an additional 14,397 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,046,472,000 after acquiring an additional 31,608 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in KLA by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,061,878,000 after acquiring an additional 204,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value 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. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% 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. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $1,035.00 price objective (up from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $833.89.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock traded up $6.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $919.22. 862,484 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,136,319. The firm has a market cap of $121.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $808.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $736.46. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $928.02.

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 firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. KLA's revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

KLA Company 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.