30,733 KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,089,954 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 30,733 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $407,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ariadne Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in KLA by 6.1% during the third quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 5,060 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its position in KLA by 6.6% during the third quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 1,989 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in KLA by 7.9% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 336,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $65,572,000 after purchasing an additional 24,596 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 52.0% in the third quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,950 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 3.7% in the third quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Piper Sandler set a $425.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.35.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $157.30 on Friday. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $107.20 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $173.40 and a 200-day moving average of $181.75. The stock has a market cap of $204.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.49.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 89.30% and a net margin of 36.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,014 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.02, for a total transaction of $10,731,526.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 634,911 shares in the company, valued at $94,614,437.22. The trade was a 10.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 79.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Profile

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.