World Investment Advisors Increases Stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

World Investment Advisors grew its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 41.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,160 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors' holdings in KLA were worth $789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,175,756,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in KLA by 95,141.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,138,221,000 after buying an additional 1,672,589 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in KLA by 381.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $462,085,000 after acquiring an additional 580,967 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in KLA by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,191,262 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $750,638,000 after acquiring an additional 300,015 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $187,212,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $1,035.00 target price (up from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $833.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of KLA stock traded up $3.96 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $923.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 600,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,134,185. The company has a market capitalization of $122.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.42. 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 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $931.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $812.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $737.73.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. The firm'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 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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.