KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Trading 3.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) shares shot up 3.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $743.95 and last traded at $742.27. 158,278 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 1,093,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $716.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $809.10.

KLA Stock Up 7.3 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $651.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $726.56. The company has a market capitalization of $102.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About KLA

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.