Raymond James Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Raymond James reiterated their outperform rating on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $750.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $625.00.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $720.42.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $706.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $685.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $601.50. KLA has a 1-year low of $369.00 and a 1-year high of $729.15.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,048,728,000. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in KLA in the first quarter valued at about $627,399,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in KLA by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in KLA by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares during the last quarter. 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.