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

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reaffirmed by Wells Fargo & Company in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $920.00 target price on the semiconductor company's stock, up from their previous target price of $870.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price target suggests a potential downside of 0.93% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $840.33.

KLA Trading Up 0.6%

KLAC stock traded up $5.44 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $928.62. The company had a trading volume of 795,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,135,734. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. KLA has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $932.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $817.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $739.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.76, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,365 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its stake in KLA by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 1,212 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. IFC Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of KLA by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in 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.