KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives $1,614.79 Average Price Target from Analysts
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemKLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,624.0714.
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,800.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on KLAC
KLA Stock Up 1.5%
Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,812.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $237.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.44. KLA has a 52-week low of $652.88 and a 52-week high of $1,823.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,541.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,361.15.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.20 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that KLA will post 36.64 earnings per share for the current year.
KLA Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 22.11%.
KLA announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Institutional Trading of KLA
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.
About KLA
KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.
Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.