Monte Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Monte Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,950 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 375 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of KLA by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,429 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,791,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its position in shares of KLA by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 1,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of KLA by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 65,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $40,960,000 after buying an additional 5,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $850.00 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $914.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $755.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $715.99. The firm has a market cap of $112.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

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

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

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. 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. Wall Street Zen cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $807.06.

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.