BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Purchases 22,287 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 103,058 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,287 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in KLA were worth $64,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its position in KLA by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $6,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,563,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 8,028 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $1,190,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $825.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $814.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $634.43 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $695.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $690.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. KLA’s payout ratio is 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.