KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Down 2.6%

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) shares traded down 2.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $674.94 and last traded at $675.37. 104,648 shares traded 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

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $688.42.

KLA Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $684.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $591.62. The firm has a market cap of $87.12 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in KLA by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,036,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,577,847,000 after acquiring an additional 133,821 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of KLA by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,733,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,288,651,000 after purchasing an additional 47,838 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,844,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,133,396,000 after acquiring an additional 268,104 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of KLA by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,547,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,480,816,000 after purchasing an additional 38,990 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.