Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Purchases 6,585 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 300.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,585 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $292,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments lifted its position in shares of KLA by 631.6% during the second quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 15,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,603,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at $237,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth about $337,000. Finally, Oak Associates Ltd. OH grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.7% in the second quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $80,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 8.4%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,442.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.10 billion, a PE ratio of 41.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $1,693.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,347.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,140.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,704,954.10. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citic Securities lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $1,350.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on KLA from $820.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,630.00 price objective on KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on KLA from $1,500.00 to $1,850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,595.39.

About KLA

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.