Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Reduces Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 430 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.67.

KLA Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $721.85 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $609.40 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $730.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $703.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released 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, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

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.