Robocap Asset Management Ltd Sells 731 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Robocap Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,097 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 731 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for 3.6% of Robocap Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Robocap Asset Management Ltd's holdings in KLA were worth $4,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 570 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.8% during 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. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.3% during 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. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 381 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, 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 currently owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ KLAC traded down $4.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $924.58. The stock had a trading volume of 570,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,136,402. The company has a market capitalization of $122.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $932.17. The company's 50-day moving average price is $826.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $742.83. 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 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 firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. KLA's payout ratio is 27.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $840.33.

KLA Company 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.