Trust Point Inc. Sells 303 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Trust Point Inc. trimmed its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 38.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 490 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 303 shares during the quarter. Trust Point Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Optas LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 38.2% during the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 503 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 3.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in KLA by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,093 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,102,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Dover Advisors LLC boosted its position in KLA by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,224,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $893.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $744.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $712.21. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $914.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.09 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.40.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company'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 value of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $807.06.

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.

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