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

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) had its price target raised by Citigroup from $700.00 to $725.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a buy rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $696.58.

KLA Stock Up 2.3 %

KLAC stock traded up $14.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $648.21. 707,598 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 959,227. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $683.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $595.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KLA has a 1 year low of $355.88 and a 1 year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. KLA's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,036,035 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $7,577,847,000 after buying an additional 133,821 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,048,728,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $733,249,000 after buying an additional 54,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $626,431,000 after purchasing an additional 153,752 shares during the period. 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.