Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Takes $228,000 Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC bought a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,175,756,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 95,141.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,138,221,000 after buying an additional 1,672,589 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 381.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $462,085,000 after purchasing an additional 580,967 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in KLA by 114,444.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 342,488 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $215,809,000 after buying an additional 342,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 33.7% in 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 valued at $750,638,000 after purchasing an additional 300,015 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $893.46 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $768.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $720.69. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $914.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $118.15 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.40.

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

KLA announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $815.39.

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.