Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 6,006 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,206 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,006 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $31,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,273,118,000 after purchasing an additional 14,397 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,046,472,000 after purchasing an additional 31,608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,061,878,000 after purchasing an additional 204,330 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Ten equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $833.89.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $923.18 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $817.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $739.01. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $931.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $1.90 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.