Short Interest in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Rises By 1,060.6%

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 40,762,347 shares, a growth of 1,060.6% from the May 31st total of 3,512,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,024,592 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 36.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $170.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on KLA from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $2,250.00 target price (up from $1,700.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of KLA from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $351.26.

KLA Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of KLAC traded down $9.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $249.40. 21,387,460 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,201,454. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $203.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.78. KLA has a 12 month low of $83.22 and a 12 month high of $269.90. The stock has a market cap of $325.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Research analysts forecast that KLA will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.06%.

KLA declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Union Heritage Capital LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 1st quarter worth about $4,152,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.8% during the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Orographic Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the first quarter worth about $390,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its stake in KLA by 64.7% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 13,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,259,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised its stake in KLA by 5.1% during the first quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 2,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,280,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.