KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives $816.63 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $816.63.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $53,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $630.12 on Friday. KLA has a 12 month low of $542.41 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $84.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $651.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $737.38. 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. 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 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.