Maridea Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased 307 shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the first quarter, with a total value of approximately $209,000.
• KLA announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.70 to $1.90 per share, and approved a $5 billion share buyback program.
• Wall Street analysts rate KLA with an average rating of "Hold", while the stock price target ranges between $750.00 and $960.00 among various firms.

Maridea Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 307 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. IFC Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors raised its holdings in KLA by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $950.00 price objective (up previously from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $889.12.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded up $5.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $884.23. The stock had a trading volume of 811,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,929. The firm has a market cap of $116.93 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock's 50 day moving average is $872.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $767.52. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $945.87.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business's revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the firm'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 $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA 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 approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA 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.