KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• KLA hit a new 52-week high — the stock traded as high as $1,940 and last at $1,910.61, with a market cap of about $247.5 billion and a P/E of 54.98.
• Analysts are broadly positive — 20 Buy vs. 11 Hold ratings give a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,624.07 after several recent target increases.
• Strong quarter and shareholder returns — KLA beat estimates (EPS $8.85 vs. $8.75; revenue $3.30B vs. $3.25B), pays a $1.90 quarterly dividend, and approved a $7.0 billion share buyback (~3.7% of shares).

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $1,940.00 and last traded at $1,910.6090, with a volume of 5910 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $1,935.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on KLAC. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,550.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,750.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $1,835.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $1,500.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,624.07.

KLA Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $247.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,558.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,374.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.20 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 36.64 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. KLA's payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $133,209,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $119,618,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of KLA by 69.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 87,547 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $94,422,000 after acquiring an additional 35,770 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $32,812,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in KLA by 418.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,227 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $31,524,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Company Profile

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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