Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,265 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,627 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of KLA by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,356,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its position in KLA by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 2,381 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in KLA by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.58.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $11.98 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $668.52. The stock had a trading volume of 436,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,282. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $684.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $597.60. The firm has a market cap of $90.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $355.88 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.