Citigroup Increases KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $725.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $700.00 to $725.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.43% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.58.

KLA Trading Up 1.3 %

KLA stock opened at $656.54 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $684.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $597.60. The company has a market cap of $88.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a 52-week low of $355.88 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.38 EPS. Analysts predict that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at KLA

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth $307,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 98.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,082 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.