KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Susquehanna Analyst Says

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target increased by Susquehanna from $620.00 to $655.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

KLAC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $806.35.

KLA Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $749.82 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $663.74 and a 200 day moving average of $723.76. The stock has a market cap of $100.30 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a 12-month low of $581.70 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA will post 30.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 76,452.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 235,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.