Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 1,883 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,103 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $23,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $4,559,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $811,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,781,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,050,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $990.00 to $960.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $950.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.29.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $709.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $794.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $752.16. The stock has a market cap of $95.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

KLA Profile

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.