KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $980.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Barclays raised shares of KLA from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $630.00 to $765.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $806.24.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $787.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $809.47 and a 200 day moving average of $716.85. KLA has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA will post 28.28 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $218,000. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 965 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 792 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $356,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of KLA by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About KLA

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.