Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,699,689 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 350,072 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.28% of KLA worth $1,155,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after buying an additional 85,370 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in KLA by 0.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,046,472,000 after purchasing an additional 31,608 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of KLA by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,061,878,000 after purchasing an additional 204,330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 target price on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $840.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was 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 worth $8,196,798 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $2.74 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $921.84. 567,750 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,179,964. The company's 50-day moving average is $826.84 and its 200-day moving average is $744.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $932.17.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during 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 was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. Analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.90 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. KLA's payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.