KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Cut to $900.00

19 Sep 2024, 07:54 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Free Report) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $960.00 to $900.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $950.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $812.80.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on KLA

KLA Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $731.04 on Monday. KLA has a 12 month low of $440.15 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $98.43 billion, a PE ratio of 38.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $776.57 and a 200-day moving average of $754.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that KLA will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 106.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 689 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $568,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,935,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,607,000. Farmers National Bank boosted its stake in KLA by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 422 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,029 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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