KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock Position Increased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 75,571 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 3,495 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $14,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Formuepleje A S increased its holdings in KLA by 1,125.5% in the 2nd quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 30,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,070,000 after buying an additional 27,609 shares during the period. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co raised its stake in shares of KLA by 829.7% in the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 6,654 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 1,195.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,510,000 after buying an additional 13,794 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 275,745 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $53,751,000 after acquiring an additional 19,700 shares during the period. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 28,728 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,600,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.26.

KLA Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $149.21 on Tuesday. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $107.20 and a 52-week high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $182.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.30. The stock has a market cap of $194.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s payout ratio is 25.07%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total transaction of $17,421,653.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,970,908.80. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454 in the last ninety days. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.