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

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $727.15.

KLAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction 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 sold a total of 24,284 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,138 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $771.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. KLA has a one year low of $404.80 and a one year high of $778.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $698.44 and a 200 day moving average of $632.03.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.