KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) PT Raised to $630.00 at Barclays

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $550.00 to $630.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Berenberg Bank increased 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $722.26.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $713.93 on Friday. KLA has a one year low of $369.66 and a one year high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market cap of $96.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $686.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $603.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.