Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $820.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $727.15.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $759.72 on Monday. KLA has a 12-month low of $403.56 and a 12-month high of $760.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $691.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $621.18.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 23.31 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,284 shares of company stock worth $17,260,138 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in KLA by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,159,832,000 after acquiring an additional 76,226 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in KLA by 2.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,829,352,000 after buying an additional 71,289 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $1,048,728,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.