Citigroup Increases KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $760.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective upped by analysts at Citigroup from $725.00 to $760.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 7.06% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock traded up $3.62 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $709.88. 251,688 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 953,659. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.00 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a 52 week low of $369.66 and a 52 week high of $729.15. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $685.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $601.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,048,728,000. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of KLA during the first quarter valued at about $627,399,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of KLA by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.