KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• KLA received an average rating of Moderate Buy from 31 research firms (20 Buys, 11 Holds) with an average 1‑year price target of $1,602.29.
• Several analysts have recently raised targets and upgraded KLA, including Evercore to $1,700 (outperform), TD Cowen to Buy/$1,800, Citigroup to Buy/$1,800, and Oppenheimer to $1,900 (outperform).
• KLA beat last quarter’s expectations (EPS $8.85 vs. $8.75; revenue $3.30B vs. $3.25B) and announced a $7.0 billion share repurchase program while continuing a $1.90 quarterly dividend ($7.60 annual).

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,602.2857.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen raised KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on KLA from $1,800.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in shares of KLA by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 9,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $10,005,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 631.6% in the second quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 15,290 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,603,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 4,023.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth $133,209,000. Finally, Oak Associates Ltd. OH boosted its stake in KLA by 1.7% during the second quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $80,721,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $1,511.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,477.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,269.43. KLA has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $1,693.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $198.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.98, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.20 EPS. Equities analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

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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