Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective hoisted by Oppenheimer from $700.00 to $740.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on KLAC. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $830.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.74.

KLA Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $676.31 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $679.94 and its 200-day moving average is $683.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $89.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. KLA has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.26 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $1,563,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in KLA by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,326,000 after buying an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.