Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 20,351 Shares of 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 the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,351 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $152,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in KLA by 82.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 research note 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.67.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $700.00 on Friday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $729.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $703.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced 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 return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

KLA 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.