KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Wells Fargo & Company

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reissued by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $920.00 price target on the semiconductor company's stock, up from their previous price target of $870.00. Wells Fargo & Company's target price points to a potential downside of 0.34% from the company's previous close.

KLAC has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on 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 KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Securities raised their target price on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $833.89.

KLA Trading Up 0.4%

KLA stock traded up $3.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $923.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 600,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,137,085. 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 stock has a market cap of $122.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $812.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $737.73. KLA has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $931.09.

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

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in KLA by 4,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in KLA during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth $36,000. 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.