KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $222.2185.

KLAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total value of $12,378,625.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 706,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 285,432 shares of company stock valued at $58,369,370. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 1,225.0% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. raised its position in KLA by 1,038.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,412 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in KLA in the second quarter worth $747,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 942.3% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 54,263 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $16,372,000 after purchasing an additional 49,057 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 3.9%

KLAC opened at $183.97 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03. KLA has a one year low of $98.10 and a one year high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 25.07%.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management technologies used by semiconductor and other advanced-electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect, measure and analyze defects and variations during the production of integrated circuits, enabling manufacturers to improve process performance, product quality and manufacturing yields.

The company’s portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect-review and analysis equipment, and software that supports process control and data management.