Premier Fund Managers Ltd Cuts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,068 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in KLA by 25.2% during the fourth 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. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of KLA by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 320,239 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $201,789,000 after purchasing an additional 25,003 shares during the last quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV raised its holdings in KLA by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV now owns 74,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $46,850,000 after buying an additional 12,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $1,175,756,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 31,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $19,666,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $700.00 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32. 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 stock has a market cap of $93.02 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $729.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $703.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.67.

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.