KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Bought by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,190 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $11,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $1,175,756,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 95,141.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,672,589 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 381.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $462,085,000 after acquiring an additional 580,967 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $215,809,000 after purchasing an additional 342,189 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 33.7% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 300,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $815.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $889.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $763.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $719.49. 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 $117.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.40. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $914.83.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.