KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $809.81.

Several research firms have weighed in on KLAC. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

KLA Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $804.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $108.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. KLA has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $896.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $768.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $756.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,159,832,000 after purchasing an additional 76,226 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of KLA by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after acquiring an additional 28,172 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in KLA by 2.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,829,352,000 after purchasing an additional 71,289 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $959,695,000 after acquiring an additional 21,412 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Company 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.