Phoenix Financial Ltd. Acquires 7,904 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,686 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,904 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 36.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its holdings in KLA by 2,275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atomic Invest LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 781.8% in the second quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 97 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total value of $12,378,625.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Truist Financial set a $225.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down from $270.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.35.

KLA Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of KLAC traded down $4.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $152.32. 12,499,207 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,760,776. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.71. The stock has a market cap of $198.47 billion, a PE ratio of 38.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.49. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $107.20 and a twelve month high of $307.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 89.30%. The firm had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

About KLA

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.