KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given New $900.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price raised by Evercore ISI from $800.00 to $900.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on KLAC. Raymond James lifted their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $950.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $802.80.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $762.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $808.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $714.17. The stock has a market cap of $102.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 106.27% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA will post 28.18 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,048,728,000. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in KLA during the 1st quarter worth about $627,399,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in KLA during the 1st quarter valued at about $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after acquiring an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in KLA by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $580,008,000 after purchasing an additional 301,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.