KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.70

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of 1.70 per share by the semiconductor company on Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%.

KLA has raised its dividend by an average of 15.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. KLA has a dividend payout ratio of 20.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect KLA to earn $32.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.2%.

KLA Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $13.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $764.28. The company had a trading volume of 711,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,160,361. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. KLA has a one year low of $609.40 and a one year high of $896.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $692.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $715.14.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. Equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

KLA Company Profile

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.