KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Lowered to $900.00 at Citigroup

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective decreased by Citigroup from $960.00 to $900.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $812.80.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $772.43 on Monday. KLA has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $774.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $754.38. The company has a market capitalization of $104.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.46, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that KLA will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 106.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 689 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,935,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $17,607,000. Farmers National Bank grew its stake in shares of KLA by 4.2% in the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 422 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 20.9% in the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,029 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.