Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Has $568,000 Stock Position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 836 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the first quarter worth $35,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in KLA by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 69 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in KLA by 270.0% during the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 74 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,035.00 price target (up from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, July 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $848.19.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $902.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $862.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $761.85. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $945.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share 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 firm’s revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

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.