KLA Corporation $KLAC Position Lifted by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,571 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,495 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $14,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 36.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at $27,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its position in KLA by 2,275.0% during the second quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Atomic Invest LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 781.8% in the 2nd quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 97 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $149.21 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $107.20 and a 12-month high of $307.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The company 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%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total transaction of $12,378,625.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,506,269. This represents a 9.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $2,698,291.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,322,505. This trade represents a 38.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $215.00 target price on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.26.

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.