KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $928.00 at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised KLA's price target from $916.00 to $928.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.57% from its current price and maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock.
• KLA reported earnings of $9.38 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $8.53, and achieved a revenue of $3.17 billion, marking a 23.6% increase year-over-year.
• The company's board authorized a $5 billion share buyback program, which is typically viewed as a signal that management believes the stock is undervalued.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $916.00 to $928.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential upside of 5.57% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on KLAC. TD Securities raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $858.94.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $879.03 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $872.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $767.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.54. KLA has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $945.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in KLA by 105.0% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 820 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $1,951,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in KLA by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 258,456 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $162,858,000 after purchasing an additional 38,628 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $24,840,000. Finally, Aviva PLC increased its stake in KLA by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 52,652 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $33,177,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507 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.

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