Phoenix Financial Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 26.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,179 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 418 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in KLA were worth $804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. IFC Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
KLA Price Performance
Shares of KLA stock traded up $7.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $923.51. 268,684 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,156,173. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $122.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $945.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $867.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $765.12.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.26 EPS. Research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.
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 given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.63%.
KLA declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $858.19.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on KLAC
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.
KLA Profile
(
Free Report)
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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