Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes $24.84 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 39,294 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,840,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of KLA by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 258,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $162,858,000 after buying an additional 38,628 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $1,951,000. World Investment Advisors increased its position in KLA by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 820 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in KLA by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 19,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,350,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,239 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,041,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $576.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $76.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $716.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $699.79. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $559.76 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.