KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $698.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $692.00 to $698.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $720.42.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $706.26 on Friday. 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 has a 12 month low of $369.00 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $685.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $601.50. The stock has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.