Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 1,690 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. has increased its holdings in KLA Corporation by 11.1% in the first quarter, bringing its total shares to 16,900 valued at approximately $11.49 million.
• Several institutional investors, including CIBC Private Wealth Group and National Bank of Canada FI, have significantly boosted their stakes in KLA, indicating strong investor confidence.
• KLA Corporation recently announced a $5.00 billion stock repurchase plan and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.90 per share, reflecting its strong financial health and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,900 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in KLA were worth $11,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 108.2% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 102 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 82 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,631 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,469,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,243 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,205,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $950.00 price objective (up previously from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $889.12.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $886.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 939,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,756. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $872.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $767.52. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $945.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 1.72 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.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Company 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.