KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given New $870.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $795.00 to $870.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $829.32.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $738.24 on Friday. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $581.70 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $675.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $717.84. The stock has a market cap of $98.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. On average, equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after buying an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in KLA by 32,828.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 5.5% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $732,464,000 after purchasing an additional 49,470 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by 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.