Columbus Macro LLC Purchases 155 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Columbus Macro LLC lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,844 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 570 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 381 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 431 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.8%

KLAC opened at $867.67 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $734.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $709.23. The company has a market capitalization of $114.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.63%.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $795.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About KLA

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.