KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in KLA Corporation by 19.7%, owning 605,424 shares valued at approximately $411.57 million.
• KLA Corporation recently announced a $5 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating that the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported earnings of $9.38 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue increasing 23.6% compared to the previous year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 19.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 605,424 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 99,515 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.46% of KLA worth $411,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $93,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $910.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.44. The business's fifty day moving average price is $891.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $775.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $945.87.

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

KLA declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is 25.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $922.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $890.59.

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.

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