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

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $700.00 to $725.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James boosted their target price on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Susquehanna restated a neutral rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. 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 note on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $696.58.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $648.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $684.05 and a 200-day moving average of $597.19. The company has a market cap of $87.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a one year low of $355.88 and a one year high of $729.15.

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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction 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 $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Chico Wealth RIA raised its stake in shares of KLA by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in KLA by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,277,000 after buying an additional 14,251 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd raised its stake in KLA by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 15,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,080,000 after buying an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in KLA by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.