KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate KLA a consensus “Moderate Buy”: Among 29 analysts, 19 recommend buying, nine rate it a hold, and one recommends a strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $223.70.
• KLA exceeded quarterly expectations: The semiconductor-equipment maker reported $1.05 in EPS and $3.66 billion in revenue, beating estimates, while revenue increased 15.2% year over year. Analysts expect $5.42 in EPS for the current year.
• Insider selling contrasts with institutional buying: Company insiders sold $56.0 million of stock over the past 90 days, while institutional ownership stands at 86.65% and several investment firms significantly increased their positions.

Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $223.70.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citic Securities increased their price target on KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $2,698,291.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,322,505. This represents a 38.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its stake in shares of KLA by 829.7% in the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in KLA by 978.2% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $259,164,000 after buying an additional 779,317 shares during the period. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 600.7% in the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 31,561 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,522,000 after acquiring an additional 27,057 shares in the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $20,763,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,180,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $185.86 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $221.46 and its 200 day moving average is $186.03. KLA has a one year low of $83.22 and a one year high of $307.37. The firm has a market cap of $242.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. KLA's payout ratio is 25.07%.

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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