KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $760.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $685.00 to $760.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a buy rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $688.42.

KLA Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $693.31 on Tuesday. KLA has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The company has a market capitalization of $93.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $683.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $590.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. KLA’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 22.65 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.46%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of KLA by 76.9% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 230 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. GuoLine Advisory Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the first quarter valued at $36,675,000. Finally, Transform Wealth LLC lifted its position in KLA by 5.4% in the first quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,003,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is 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.