KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $875.00 at Argus

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective hoisted by Argus from $800.00 to $875.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James increased their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $806.24.

KLA Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $778.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $809.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $719.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. KLA has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $104.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.78, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.27.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders have sold a total of 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 792 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 6,847 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. Finally, Realta Investment Advisors acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.