CSM Advisors LLC Acquires 2,622 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

CSM Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 868.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,622 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 125.0% in the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the third quarter worth $43,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in KLA by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,630.00 target price on KLA in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on KLA from $1,800.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,602.29.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $1,438.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,466.12 and a 200-day moving average of $1,247.05. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $1,693.35. The company has a market capitalization of $188.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.45.

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

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

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.