Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 232,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,351 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.17% of KLA worth $152,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,563,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 60.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in shares of KLA by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $700.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $729.51 and a 200 day moving average of $703.36. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $609.40 and a 1-year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. On average, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.67.

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.