KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) PT Raised to $698.00 at Morgan Stanley

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $692.00 to $698.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on KLAC. Raymond James reissued an outperform rating and issued a $750.00 target price (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna reissued a neutral rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a hold rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $720.42.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $33.31 on Friday, hitting $706.26. 1,192,886 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 962,386. The company's 50 day moving average price is $685.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $599.79. KLA has a one year low of $369.00 and a one year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. The business's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. KLA's payout ratio is 29.46%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 is available at this link. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in KLA by 63.0% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in KLA by 6.5% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 594 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in KLA by 2.7% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,092 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC increased its stake in KLA by 42.4% in the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in KLA by 2.0% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 45,325 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $20,789,000 after purchasing an additional 882 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.