KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Coverage Initiated at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings 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 21.40% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. 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 note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $688.42.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $658.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. KLA has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $684.11 and its 200 day moving average is $591.25.

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

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of 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 is available at this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Chico Wealth RIA raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,277,000 after purchasing an additional 14,251 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $4,754,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 64,156 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,294,000 after purchasing an additional 23,635 shares during 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.