KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given New $922.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus raised KLA's price target from $770.00 to $922.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.53%, and maintains a "buy" rating on the stock.
• Goldman Sachs issued a "neutral" rating with a price target of $980.00, while several analysts have recently adjusted their targets, leading to a consensus target price of $889.12.
• KLA reported strong quarterly earnings with $9.38 earnings per share, exceeding expectations, and has authorized a $5.00 billion share buyback plan indicating confidence in its stock value.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $770.00 to $922.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.53% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 price objective (up from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $889.12.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock traded up $3.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $882.05. The stock had a trading volume of 688,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,058. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. KLA has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $945.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. The company's 50-day moving average price is $872.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $767.52.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in KLA by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,564,622 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,221,230,000 after acquiring an additional 80,154 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,273,118,000 after purchasing an additional 14,397 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 27.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,852,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,259,543,000 after acquiring an additional 404,634 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,061,878,000 after acquiring an additional 204,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 95,141.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,138,221,000 after buying an additional 1,672,589 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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