KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) PT Lowered to $870.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $950.00 to $870.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on KLAC. Susquehanna reduced their price target on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $804.81.

KLA Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $787.39 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $449.35 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $768.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $760.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at $6,063,876.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,063,876.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Market Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in KLA by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 548 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. United Community Bank boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.0% during the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.7% in the second quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 567 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.