LGT Group Foundation Trims Stock Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation reduced its holdings in KLA Corporation by 20.6% in the first quarter, owning 9,192 shares valued at approximately $6.25 million after selling 2,390 shares.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on KLA, with Deutsche Bank downgrading it from "buy" to "hold," while Oppenheimer and Raymond James both raised their price targets to $950.00.
• KLA recently announced a dividend of $1.90 per share to be paid on September 3rd, representing an annualized yield of 0.8%, and initiated a $5 billion share buyback plan.

LGT Group Foundation cut its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,192 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 2,390 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in KLA were worth $6,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in KLA by 95,141.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,138,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672,589 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the first quarter valued at $348,822,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in KLA by 27.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,852,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,259,543,000 after acquiring an additional 404,634 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in KLA by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,191,262 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $750,638,000 after acquiring an additional 300,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $187,212,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $950.00 price objective (up from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,035.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $890.59.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $7,354,210.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. The trade was a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,908 shares of company stock worth $18,038,659 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock traded down $80.47 on Friday, reaching $874.94. 2,063,166 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,029,476. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $959.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $902.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $780.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.44.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. KLA's payout ratio is currently 25.01%.

KLA announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.