KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Argus increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.90.

KLA Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of KLAC traded up $3.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $669.38. The stock had a trading volume of 906,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,503. The firm has a market cap of $89.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a 1 year low of $484.33 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $744.15 and its 200 day moving average is $762.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 108.40%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA will post 29.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in KLA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,159,832,000 after buying an additional 76,226 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in KLA by 1.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,318,329,000 after purchasing an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,829,352,000 after buying an additional 71,289 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in KLA by 25.7% during 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 period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.