KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock Holdings Cut by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 20,724 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $16,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atomic Invest LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 781.8% during the second quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 97 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,275.0% during the second quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 900.0% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 900.0% during the second quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total value of $12,378,625.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,506,269. This represents a 9.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $240.00 price target on KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $133.00 price objective on KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.35.

KLA Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of KLA stock traded down $4.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $152.32. The company had a trading volume of 12,499,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,760,776. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $172.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.71. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $107.20 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. The firm has a market cap of $198.47 billion, a PE ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.86.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 89.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. KLA’s payout ratio is 23.00%.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation develops process-control and yield-management technologies used in the manufacture of semiconductors and other electronic products. Its systems help manufacturers detect defects, measure features and monitor production processes as they make increasingly complex devices. The company’s products include inspection and metrology equipment, as well as software and related services. Its technologies support multiple stages of semiconductor production, from work on wafers and reticles to advanced packaging.