KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $775.00 to $960.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. KLA traded as high as $945.87 and last traded at $931.88, with a volume of 682033 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $937.08.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $852.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the first quarter worth approximately $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in KLA by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new position in KLA during the 1st quarter worth $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $93,624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 1.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $850.60 and a 200-day moving average of $754.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42.

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 the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.26 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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