Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Has $53.48 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 11.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,052 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,252 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in KLA were worth $53,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the first quarter valued at about $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after acquiring an additional 386,810 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $720,936,000 after purchasing an additional 211,227 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in KLA by 2,205.8% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $166,215,000 after purchasing an additional 192,849 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in KLA by 136.2% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 309,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,667,000 after buying an additional 178,474 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $804.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.7 %

KLA stock traded up $5.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $803.73. 570,837 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 918,066. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $452.01 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $771.73 and its 200-day moving average is $763.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.10, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.13 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.