Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Has $865,000 Stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 54.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,273 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,175,756,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in KLA by 95,141.6% in the 1st 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 lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 580,967 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in KLA by 114,444.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 342,488 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $215,809,000 after acquiring an additional 342,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 33.7% during 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 worth $750,638,000 after acquiring an additional 300,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 target price (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $830.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $807.06.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $893.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $118.09 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $744.19 and a 200-day moving average of $712.21. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $914.83.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

KLA declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.