Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Increases Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm 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 quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in KLA by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in KLA by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 537 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $825.39.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $673.60 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $727.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $703.04. The stock has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a one year low of $609.40 and a one 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, beating 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, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio 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.