TD Cowen Raises KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $700.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price increased by TD Cowen from $650.00 to $700.00 in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a hold rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a neutral rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $720.42.

KLA Price Performance

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

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given 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 was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 63.0% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in KLA by 6.5% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 594 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in KLA by 2.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,092 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 42.4% during the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of KLA by 2.0% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 45,325 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,789,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. 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.