Mathes Company Inc. Has $3.91 Million Stock Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mathes Company Inc. lowered its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,748 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 417 shares during the period. KLA accounts for 1.6% of Mathes Company Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Mathes Company Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $3,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 81.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 544 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of KLA by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,894 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,454,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of KLA by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 860 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,479 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,840 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $840.33.

KLA Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $924.58 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $122.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $826.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $742.83. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $932.17.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The business's revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. Analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

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.

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