Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Has $1.44 Million Stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,122 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the period. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in KLA by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in KLA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,273,118,000 after purchasing an additional 14,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,046,472,000 after purchasing an additional 31,608 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in KLA by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,061,878,000 after purchasing an additional 204,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $914.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $120.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $803.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $733.70. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $928.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on KLAC. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays cut their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $818.06.

KLA Company Profile

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.