Cantor Fitzgerald Trims KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Target Price to $925.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective lowered by Cantor Fitzgerald from $950.00 to $925.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $808.62.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $777.36 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $768.31 and a 200 day moving average of $759.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. KLA has a twelve month low of $448.31 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,063,876.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 77.3% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth $46,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.