First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $344,000 Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 506 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in KLA were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 537 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 570 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of KLA stock opened at $856.59 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $717.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $703.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Securities lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $795.39.

About KLA

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.