KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $725.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $700.00 to $725.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on KLAC. Bank of America boosted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $720.42.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $706.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $369.00 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $685.41 and a 200-day moving average of $599.79.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Chico Wealth RIA raised its position in shares of KLA by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,277,000 after acquiring an additional 14,251 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd raised its position in shares of KLA by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 15,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,080,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $997,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.