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

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $816.63.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

KLA Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $636.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $649.85 and its 200 day moving average is $735.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA has a 1 year low of $542.41 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its position in KLA by 538.5% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares during the period. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in KLA by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after purchasing an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 14.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.