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

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $812.80.

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 9258 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth $210,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,041 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 40,048 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,279,000 after acquiring an additional 3,347 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $562,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $667,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $770.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $769.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $756.05. KLA has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

About KLA

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.