KLA’s (KLAC) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James

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

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an outperform rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $720.42.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $706.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $685.41 and its 200-day moving average is $599.79. KLA has a 1-year low of $369.00 and a 1-year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.31% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm’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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.