Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,651 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 5,609 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.09% of KLA worth $85,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew 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 acquiring an additional 3,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,035.00 price objective (up previously from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $840.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of KLAC traded down $5.96 on Friday, reaching $931.12. The stock had a trading volume of 682,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,136,345. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $850.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $753.70. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $945.87.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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.