Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,967 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $6,776,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake 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 period. IFC Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.6% during the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.8% during the first 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 during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.3% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.7% during the first 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 during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock traded up $16.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $938.74. The company had a trading volume of 166,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,172,115. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $940.96. The company's fifty day moving average is $831.41 and its 200-day moving average is $746.07. The company has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.26 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price objective for the company. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 price objective (up from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.