KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $809.81.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 77.3% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $804.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $108.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $768.91 and a 200-day moving average of $756.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. KLA has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.