KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Up 7.6% – Here’s Why

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) shares rose 7.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $262.79 and last traded at $267.4430. Approximately 3,302,169 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 11,167,087 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on KLAC. Scotiabank set a $200.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of KLA from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.34.

KLA Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $394.12 billion, a PE ratio of 85.40, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. KLA’s payout ratio is 26.06%.

KLA declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at $157,996,990.71. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. 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.