KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Short Interest Update

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,350,000 shares, a growth of 17.1% from the February 13th total of 2,860,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB lifted its position in KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 14.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after buying an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Finally, Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,563,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 0.1 %

KLA stock traded down $0.79 during trading on Thursday, reaching $718.82. The stock had a trading volume of 113,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,980. The stock has a market cap of $95.52 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $728.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $704.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, analysts predict that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

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.