Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,210 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 2,072 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in KLA were worth $9,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after buying an additional 85,370 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,175,756,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in KLA by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $916,926,000 after purchasing an additional 292,907 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

KLA Trading Down 8.0 %

KLA stock traded down $55.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $631.10. The stock had a trading volume of 398,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,005,087. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $722.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $701.74. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $83.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.54, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. Analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA's payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $832.17.

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.