Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 877 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,829 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 877 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.05% of KLA worth $47,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of KLA by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,211 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $45,502,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $126,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,178,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 value of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $871.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $751.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $714.72. The stock has a market cap of $115.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.40. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $914.83. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $807.06.

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.

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