Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Has $755,000 Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 26.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,198 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in KLA were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,098,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 90 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 639 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,725,000. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,895,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $698.16 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $679.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $683.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.26 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.60%.

KLA declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.74.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA 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.