KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $725.00 at Citigroup

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target raised by Citigroup from $700.00 to $725.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna reissued a neutral rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America increased their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $696.58.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $672.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a one year low of $355.88 and a one year high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $684.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $598.13.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.38 EPS. Analysts forecast that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,048,728,000. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of KLA in the first quarter worth approximately $627,399,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares in 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.