KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Lowered to $750.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $825.00 to $750.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

KLAC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays raised their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $814.11.

KLA Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $676.21 on Tuesday. KLA has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $89.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $702.07 and a 200-day moving average of $693.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,563,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in KLA by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,326,000 after acquiring an additional 8,028 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $1,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.