KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 40,762,347 shares, a growth of 1,060.6% from the May 31st total of 3,512,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 13,024,592 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 36.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. New Street Research increased their target price on KLA from $146.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citic Securities increased their price objective on KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on KLA from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on KLA from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.26.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $258.80 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.18. KLA has a 52 week low of $83.22 and a 52 week high of $269.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.25, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 713,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. The trade was a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at $133,209,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $119,618,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its stake in shares of KLA by 151.2% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $171,230,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $32,812,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 91,413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $111,910,000 after buying an additional 21,850 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently 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.