KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) is Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s 10th Largest Position

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,586,781 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,620 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises approximately 1.2% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,078,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,273,118,000 after purchasing an additional 14,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,046,472,000 after purchasing an additional 31,608 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of KLA by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,061,878,000 after purchasing an additional 204,330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $840.33.

KLA Stock Down 0.4%

KLAC traded down $3.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $933.64. 145,311 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,132,730. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $123.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.42. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $950.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $846.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $750.77.

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

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

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.