383 Shares in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Acquired by Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• Prescott Group Capital Management has made a new investment in KLA Corporation, acquiring 383 shares valued at approximately $260,000 during the 1st quarter of the year.
• KLA Corporation reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $8.41, exceeding analysts' expectations of $8.08, and had a significant year-over-year revenue growth of 35.5%.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $1.70 to $1.90, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.84% and indicating strong financial health.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 383 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 175.4% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 3,051 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 0.9% in the first quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 3,762 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,558,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 2.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,084 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $15,013,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 2.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 125,865 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $85,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of KLA by 24.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,794 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $20,934,000 after acquiring an additional 6,146 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $858.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $2.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $925.57. The stock had a trading volume of 619,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,630. The company has a market capitalization of $122.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.42. 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 50 day moving average price of $864.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $764.06. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $945.87.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.90 dividend. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA's payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in 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 usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.