KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $818.06.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC traded down $11.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $913.23. 253,866 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,132,112. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $120.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. KLA has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $928.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $803.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $734.48.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The company's revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 4,100.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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.