KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Holdings Raised by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 320,239 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,003 shares during the period. KLA accounts for 0.6% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $201,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 27.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,563,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake 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 worth $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $700.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $729.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $703.36.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna increased their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.67.

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.