Analysts Set KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target at $1,570.39

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,598.9643.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $1,575.00 target price on KLA in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,760.00 to $1,770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,550.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $1,442.62 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $189.10 billion, a PE ratio of 41.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.47. KLA has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $1,693.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,347.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,143.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The business had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.20 EPS. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This represents 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 available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares in the company, valued at $97,704,954.10. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 91.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 188,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $169,056,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $133,209,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $95,217,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its stake in KLA by 6.2% during the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $112,721,000 after buying an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $109,351,000 after acquiring an additional 5,586 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by 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.