KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Reaches New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• KLA shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $1,950 and closing near $1,945, up about 5.4% on the day. The rally comes as the stock continues to outperform its recent moving averages.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive, with several firms raising price targets and KLA holding a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The average price target is $1,842.19, though some targets have been lifted as high as $2,000.
• The semiconductor equipment maker posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also increasing its dividend and announcing a 10-for-1 stock split scheduled for June 12. KLA also authorized a $7 billion share buyback program.

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $1,950.00 and last traded at $1,945.00, with a volume of 56030 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1,888.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,505.00 to $1,550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore upped 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 report on Monday, January 26th. Citic Securities increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,970.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,575.00 to $1,835.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,842.19.

KLA Trading Up 5.4%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $1,691.60 and a 200-day moving average of $1,465.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.03. The company has a market capitalization of $259.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.32, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.50.

KLA's stock is scheduled to split on Friday, June 12th. The 10-1 split was announced on Thursday, May 7th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, June 11th.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.17 by $0.23. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.41 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $2.30 dividend. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. KLA's payout ratio is currently 26.04%.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 4,512 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,794.00, for a total value of $8,094,528.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $136,155,630. The trade was a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 9,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $10,005,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 4,023.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,937,000 after buying an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its position in shares of KLA by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 8,534 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,205,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $133,209,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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