Brokerages Set KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Target Price at $815.55

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $812.30.

Several research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $648.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA has a 12-month low of $530.07 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $687.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $754.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.