Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,206 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,006 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $31,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,046,472,000 after purchasing an additional 31,608 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of KLA by 13.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% 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, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,035.00 target price (up previously from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $840.33.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock traded up $5.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $928.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 798,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,137,622. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $932.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $817.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $739.01.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. KLA'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. On average, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $1.90 dividend. This is a positive change 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 0.82%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.