Short Interest in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Rises By 17.1%

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in 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. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. United Bank acquired a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth $339,000. AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in shares of KLA by 142.4% in the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 686 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.1% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 17,764 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,756,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.67.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock traded down $0.79 during trading on Thursday, reaching $718.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 113,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,980. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm 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 50-day moving average price of $728.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $704.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

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.