Stifel Nicolaus Reaffirms Buy Rating for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $685.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on KLAC. Berenberg Bank raised their price target 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. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They set a buy rating and a $730.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $641.05.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock opened at $696.87 on Monday. 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $657.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.38 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that KLA will post 22.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jackson Square Capital LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 8,337 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,846,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Thematics Asset Management raised its holdings in KLA by 10.6% during the second quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 56,373 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,418 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the third quarter worth approximately $364,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 179.0% during the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,373,000 after purchasing an additional 6,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA during the third quarter worth approximately $5,341,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.