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

Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $800.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

KLAC has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One investment 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 currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $688.42.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $693.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $93.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $683.11 and its 200-day moving average is $590.78.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 22.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. 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 0.84%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.46%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, 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 transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Journey Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in KLA by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 4.7% in the third quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.