Diversified Trust Co Buys 9,440 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 239.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,378 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,440 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,273,118,000 after buying an additional 14,397 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,046,472,000 after buying an additional 31,608 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in KLA by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,061,878,000 after acquiring an additional 204,330 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $902.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $119.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.82, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.40. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $914.83. 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 50-day moving average price of $773.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $722.42.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 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 that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $815.39.

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.