Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 4,394 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,609 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,394 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $23,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. United Bank bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 7.5% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in KLA by 12.4% in the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 725 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

KLA Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $678.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $90.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $723.10 and its 200 day moving average is $709.19.

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, 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, equities research analysts anticipate 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 given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

KLA Company 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.