Mission Wealth Management LP Sells 402 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mission Wealth Management LP reduced its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 33.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 789 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 402 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,175,756,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 95,141.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,138,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672,589 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 381.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $462,085,000 after acquiring an additional 580,967 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 114,444.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 342,488 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $215,809,000 after acquiring an additional 342,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 33.7% in 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. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 2.4%

KLA stock opened at $871.16 on Thursday. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $914.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $747.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $713.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.26 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.63%.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. Citigroup reduced their target price on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Securities raised their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $807.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

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.