KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives $727.15 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $727.15.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $779.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $701.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $634.89. KLA has a twelve month low of $418.12 and a twelve month high of $790.52.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,136 shares of company stock worth $24,016,781 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 399.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 9,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,538,000 after acquiring an additional 7,487 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in KLA by 83.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,077,000 after buying an additional 11,764 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $379,678,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its stake in KLA by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. 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.