Citigroup Raises KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $725.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target raised by research analysts at Citigroup from $700.00 to $725.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.15% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.58.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock traded up $18.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $652.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 236,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,256. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $683.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $595.92. The firm has a market cap of $88.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a 52 week low of $355.88 and a 52 week high of $729.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,036,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,577,847,000 after acquiring an additional 133,821 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after acquiring an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $1,048,728,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $733,249,000 after acquiring an additional 54,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in KLA by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after acquiring an additional 153,752 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.