Unigestion Holding SA Acquires 522 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Unigestion Holding SA boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 24.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,687 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 522 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in KLA were worth $1,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 5,620 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,541,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in KLA by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 479 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 479.9% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 5,689 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,585,000 after acquiring an additional 4,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,775 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $799.58.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock traded up $9.80 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $791.89. 1,618,627 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,094,970. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $104.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $705.53 and a 200 day moving average of $697.81.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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 given a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

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

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.