KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,838.4815.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of KLA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,505.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 13th.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 4,512 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,794.00, for a total value of $8,094,528.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $136,155,630. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 91.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Monetary Management Group Inc. raised its position in KLA by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 3,773 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,380,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in KLA by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,118 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,584,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in KLA by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 0.9%

KLAC opened at $1,740.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,657.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,446.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.27, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.50. KLA has a twelve month low of $740.44 and a twelve month high of $1,939.36.

Shares of KLA are set to split before the market opens on Friday, June 12th. The 10-1 split was announced on Thursday, May 7th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, June 11th.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.17 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.41 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.04%.

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.