KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $916.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $868.00 to $916.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $818.06.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $914.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.96 billion, a PE ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.54. KLA has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $928.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $799.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $731.20.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The company’s revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.26 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of KLA by 4,100.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in KLA by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors 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.