J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 228.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,233 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 858 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter valued at about $606,000. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in KLA by 6.1% in the first quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 10,157 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,905,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth $442,000. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 10.9% during the first quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,140,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 18.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 1,461 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of KLAC traded down $2.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $902.09. The stock had a trading volume of 807,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 836,322. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $862.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $761.33. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $945.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $119.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price target for the company. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $852.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.