KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives $815.55 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $812.30.

Several research firms have weighed in on KLAC. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% in 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 buying an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% in 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 buying an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $648.34 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $687.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $754.35. KLA has a 52 week low of $530.07 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

KLA Company Profile

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.