KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• "Moderate Buy" consensus from 31 brokerages (20 buy, 11 hold) with an average 12‑month price target of about $1,614.79; several major firms have recently raised targets (Wells Fargo $1,900, Morgan Stanley $1,809, TD Cowen upgraded to buy).
• KLA beat the quarter with EPS of $8.85 vs. $8.75 expected and revenue of $3.30 billion vs. $3.25 billion, posting a 35.8% net margin and 98.2% ROE, while analysts forecast ~31.59 EPS for the year.
• The board approved a $7.0 billion share repurchase (≈3.7% of shares) and KLA pays a $1.90 quarterly dividend ($7.60 annualized, ~0.4% yield), underscoring a focus on returning capital to shareholders.

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-one brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,614.7857.

Several research firms have weighed in on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. New Street Research increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,230.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,751.00 to $1,809.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $1,791.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.12, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.44. The company's 50-day moving average is $1,520.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,345.07. KLA has a 1-year low of $607.70 and a 1-year high of $1,798.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. KLA's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.20 EPS. Analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 3,773 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,380,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,118 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,584,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,783 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,002,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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