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

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $802.90.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 77.3% in 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. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $38,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $614.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $722.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $763.28. KLA has a 52-week low of $527.11 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.48%.

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.