KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $1,809.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $1,751.00 to $1,809.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group set a $1,575.00 price target on KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,630.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,601.04.

KLA Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $1,524.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $199.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.36, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.47. KLA has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $1,693.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,427.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,200.61.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth $133,209,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the second quarter worth about $95,217,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in KLA by 6.2% in the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $112,721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,109 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in KLA by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 101,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $109,351,000 after acquiring an additional 5,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in KLA by 5,697.9% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 97,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,094,000 after purchasing an additional 95,554 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About KLA

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.