KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Now Covered by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Equities research analysts at Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.91% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James raised their target price on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on KLA in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $684.47.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $678.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $681.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $589.12. KLA has a 52-week low of $355.88 and a 52-week high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA will post 22.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA 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 value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other KLA 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 value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.