KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Sold by Jensen Investment Management Inc.

Jensen Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 32.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 262,493 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 126,535 shares during the period. KLA makes up about 3.5% of Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $283,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in KLA by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.2% during the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 836 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in KLA by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 581 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 0.6%

KLA stock opened at $1,430.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.00. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $1,693.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,357.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,151.24. The firm has a market cap of $187.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.47.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,450.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,598.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.