KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $800.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on KLAC. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. New Street Research initiated coverage on KLA in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They issued a buy rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $688.42.

KLA Stock Down 2.5 %

KLAC stock opened at $628.16 on Tuesday. KLA has a twelve month low of $355.88 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $84.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $684.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $592.79.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.38 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value 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 $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA 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 value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Norges Bank bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $1,048,728,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in KLA by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 22.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $759,532,000 after purchasing an additional 385,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after acquiring an additional 301,848 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.