Fifth Third Bancorp Has $7.18 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,567 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in KLA were worth $7,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in KLA by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities raised their price target on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $795.39.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $867.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $114.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $734.54 and its 200-day moving average is $708.16. KLA Co. has a one year low of $551.33 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA’s payout ratio is 27.63%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value 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. The trade was a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.