KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. decreased its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,616 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,402 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,175,756,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 95,141.6% in 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 buying an additional 1,672,589 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 381.3% during 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 during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $187,212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $818.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was 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 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock opened at $914.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $928.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $799.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $731.20.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

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 dividend of $1.90 per share. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 27.63%.

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