KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Down 2.6%

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 2.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $674.94 and last traded at $675.37. 104,648 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 947,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $693.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Bank of America boosted their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $688.42.

KLA Stock Down 5.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $89.11 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $683.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $590.78.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.38 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.65 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $1,048,728,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $759,532,000 after buying an additional 385,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of KLA by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.