KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $266.49 and last traded at $261.9680, with a volume of 231221 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $254.54.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of KLA from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of KLA from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $170.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of KLA from $150.50 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $342.44.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on KLA
KLA Stock Performance
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
KLA Cuts Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.06%.
KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Transactions at KLA
In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 713,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 0.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $265,444,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at about $133,209,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in KLA by 151.2% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $171,230,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its holdings in KLA by 6.2% in the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $112,721,000 after buying an additional 6,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,676,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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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