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

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $816.63.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 5.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 172,389 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $133,500,000 after acquiring an additional 8,830 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,700,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 317.6% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 37,111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,739,000 after purchasing an additional 28,224 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $644.81 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $652.73 and its 200 day moving average is $740.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $86.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a 12-month low of $542.41 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA will post 30.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.