KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Short Interest Up 20.0% in August

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,700,000 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the August 15th total of 2,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 957,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Barclays lifted their target price on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.80.

KLA Stock Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $736.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 284,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 926,912. The company has a market capitalization of $99.15 billion, a PE ratio of 38.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. KLA has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $782.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $754.26.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in KLA by 2,033.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About KLA

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.