KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $800.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target raised by Barclays from $765.00 to $800.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $980.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on KLA in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a buy rating and a $820.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $806.24.

KLA Stock Up 3.2 %

KLAC stock opened at $787.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $809.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $716.85.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Market Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the second quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.6% during the second quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 548 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. United Community Bank increased its stake in shares of KLA by 4.0% during the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.7% during the second quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 567 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 1.4% during the first quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.