KLA’s (KLAC) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their neutral rating on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $950.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI began coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $802.80.

KLA Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $762.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $808.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $714.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $477,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in KLA by 5.4% in the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC raised its position in KLA by 2.7% in the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at about $3,766,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.