19,314 Shares in KLA Corporation $KLAC Bought by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,314 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,765,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 36.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,275.0% in the 2nd 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 boosted 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 buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $161.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.76. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $107.20 and a one year high of $307.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $173.70 and its 200-day moving average is $181.74.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down from $270.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.35.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

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.