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

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target decreased by Cantor Fitzgerald from $950.00 to $925.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a neutral rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $804.81.

KLA Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $774.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.57, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. KLA has a 52 week low of $449.35 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $768.54 and a 200-day moving average of $759.37.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by 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.