Meeder Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in KLA by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 15,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in KLA by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 527,196 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $332,197,000 after purchasing an additional 65,569 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,201,000. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $2,498,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $682.46 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $724.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $701.85.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date 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 KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.