Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,539 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $13,283,000.
Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the first quarter valued at $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth about $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.
KLA Price Performance
KLAC stock opened at $886.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $945.87. The firm has a market cap of $117.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company's 50-day moving average price is $875.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $769.16.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released 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. KLA had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 119.79%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.60 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
KLA announced that its board has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
KLA Increases Dividend
The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. KLA's payout ratio is presently 25.01%.
Insider Activity at KLA
In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $950.00 price target (up from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $890.59.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on KLA
KLA Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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