KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Down 2.6%

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) fell 2.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $674.94 and last traded at $675.37. 104,648 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 947,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $693.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $688.42.

KLA Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $684.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $591.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $7.38 EPS. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a $1.45 dividend. 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 0.90%. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was 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 approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA 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 sale, 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 owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 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.