Wells Fargo & Company Reaffirms Equal Weight Rating for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $920.00 price objective on the semiconductor company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $870.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.50% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $1,035.00 price target (up from $835.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $840.33.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC traded down $4.04 on Tuesday, hitting $924.58. 570,461 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,136,402. KLA has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $932.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $826.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $742.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. KLA's revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 1.47% 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. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA during the first quarter worth $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 40.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the first quarter worth $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in KLA by 2.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $93,624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.