300 Shares in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Acquired by Solidarity Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Solidarity Wealth LLC has made a new investment of approximately $204,000 in KLA Corporation by acquiring 300 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and UBS AM, have increased their positions in KLA, with GAMMA boosting its stake by over 95,000% recently.
• KLA Corporation has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.70 to $1.90, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Solidarity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 300 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. IFC Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.6% during the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors boosted its position in KLA by 1.3% in the first quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in KLA by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 price objective (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Eleven research 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 a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $858.19.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $41.24 during trading on Thursday, reaching $883.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,190,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,161,425. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $945.87. The stock has a market cap of $116.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.08, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $870.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $766.22.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

About KLA

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.