Man Group plc Purchases 67,132 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Man Group plc boosted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 52.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 195,906 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,132 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned 0.15% of KLA worth $123,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $1,563,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in shares of KLA by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.74.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $795.90 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $896.32. 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 company has a market capitalization of $105.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $681.09 and a 200-day moving average of $685.71.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 27.63%.

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

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.