KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Increased to $800.00 by Analysts at Barclays

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $765.00 to $800.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

KLAC has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $980.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $806.24.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $787.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $809.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $717.98. KLA has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.