KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,888 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 3,378 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.05% of KLA worth $47,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,786 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,125,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,198 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,906,000 after buying an additional 3,053 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,968 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $25,185,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 857,056 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $540,048,000 after buying an additional 30,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 949 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Securities raised their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $818.06.

KLA Stock Down 0.7%

KLAC stock traded down $6.40 on Friday, hitting $914.70. 489,375 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,132,863. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $928.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $799.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $731.20. 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 stock has a market cap of $120.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Company 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.