UBS Group Cuts KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $765.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target reduced by UBS Group from $900.00 to $765.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

KLAC has been the subject of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a neutral rating and issued a $950.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $815.80.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $751.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $101.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.37, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $785.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $753.31. KLA has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. KLA’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given 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 0.77%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,935,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,607,000. Farmers National Bank raised its stake in KLA by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 422 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its stake in KLA by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,029 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in KLA by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,178 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.