Synergy Asset Management LLC Sells 569 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Synergy Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 569 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $3,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,273,118,000 after purchasing an additional 14,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,046,472,000 after purchasing an additional 31,608 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of KLA by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,061,878,000 after purchasing an additional 204,330 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Trading Down 2.4%

KLAC stock traded down $21.16 on Friday, reaching $850.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,347,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,123,792. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $755.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $716.33. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $914.83. The firm has a market cap of $112.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.90, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.40. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $1.90 dividend. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is 27.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. Wall Street Zen lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.