KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $815.55.

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group lowered their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $185,397,000 after buying an additional 235,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $665.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $527.11 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business’s 50-day moving average is $695.34 and its 200-day moving average is $756.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.