Argus Raises KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $875.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target raised by Argus from $800.00 to $875.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on KLAC. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on KLA in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $820.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a buy rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $806.24.

KLA Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $778.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $809.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $719.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.78, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given 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 at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 have sold a total of 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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.