KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Short Interest Up 21.6% in November

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,810,000 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the October 31st total of 2,310,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $815.55.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $19.00 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $666.03. 1,360,954 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 970,762. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $699.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $757.79. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $527.11 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $89.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

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.