KLA’s (KLAC) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $725.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $875.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $825.39.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $673.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $727.83 and a 200-day moving average of $702.72.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. United Bank bought a new stake in KLA during the third quarter worth $339,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,919,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 45.2% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 5.5% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $732,464,000 after purchasing an additional 49,470 shares during 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.