KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

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KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $924.99, but opened at $864.45. KLA shares last traded at $888.14, with a volume of 510,815 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $920.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $858.19.

KLA Stock Down 3.5%

The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $870.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $766.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $1.90 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. KLA's payout ratio 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.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,475,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $754,000. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 26,363 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $16,612,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 94.1% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 8,763 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $5,553,000 after buying an additional 4,248 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,239 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,041,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About KLA

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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