KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock: Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 424,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 39,185 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $83,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Formuepleje A S grew its holdings in KLA by 1,125.5% during the 2nd quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 30,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,070,000 after purchasing an additional 27,609 shares during the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co raised its position in KLA by 829.7% in the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 1,195.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,510,000 after purchasing an additional 13,794 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in KLA by 7.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 275,745 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $53,751,000 after purchasing an additional 19,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 40.1% during the third quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 28,728 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,600,000 after buying an additional 8,225 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $156.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.86. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $107.20 and a 1 year high of $307.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.89.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 89.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.47 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on KLAC. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on KLA from $238.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $133.00 price target on KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $230.00 price objective on KLA and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.35.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,167,746.53. The trade was a 43.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 778,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,970,908.80. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 219,173 shares of company stock worth $42,201,914. 79.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.