Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in KLA by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective 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. Barclays increased their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $825.39.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $673.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $727.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $703.04. 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 1-year low of $609.40 and a 1-year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued 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 yield of 1.01%. KLA’s payout ratio is 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.