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

Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 52.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. 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’s holdings in KLA were worth $123,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

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

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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