JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $900.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $950.00 to $900.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on KLAC. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.74.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $698.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $679.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $683.40. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.60%.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its stake in KLA by 551.3% in the first quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 6,181 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,202,000 after acquiring an additional 5,232 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,764 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,952 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 528 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 23.2% in the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,833,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.