KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $700.00 at TD Cowen

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective lifted by TD Cowen from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on KLAC. Barclays upped their target price on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $720.42.

KLA Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $706.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $685.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $599.79. The company has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KLA has a 12-month low of $369.00 and a 12-month high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.