KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in KLA Corporation by 15.7%, acquiring a total of 131,699 shares valued at approximately $89.5 million.
• KLA reported earnings of $8.41 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $8.08, with revenue reaching $3.06 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.90 per share, along with a $5 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 15.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 131,699 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,909 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of KLA worth $89,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,273,118,000 after purchasing an additional 14,397 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of KLA by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,061,878,000 after purchasing an additional 204,330 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 95,141.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,138,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,589 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,586,781 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,078,526,000 after acquiring an additional 131,620 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,404,395 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $884,937,000 after acquiring an additional 23,365 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $7.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $886.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,474,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,113. The company has a market capitalization of $117.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $875.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $768.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $890.59.

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.