Brokerages Set KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target at $688.42

Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $696.58.

KLAC has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. 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. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $672.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. KLA has a 52-week low of $355.88 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $684.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $598.13.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.38 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.46%.

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.