FY2025 Earnings Forecast for KLA Issued By Cantor Fitzgerald

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald upped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of KLA in a report issued on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C. Muse now expects that the semiconductor company will post earnings of $32.47 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $31.62. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a "Neutral" rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for KLA's current full-year earnings is $31.59 per share.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $802.74.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $21.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $698.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 851,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,063,117. The stock has a market cap of $92.78 billion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $679.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $683.49. KLA has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

KLA announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in KLA by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $1,563,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in KLA by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $38,326,000 after buying an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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.