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 on Tuesday, MarketBeat 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 indicates a potential downside of 0.76% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on KLAC. UBS Group raised their target price on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $840.33.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $927.07. The stock had a trading volume of 129,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,133,641. The business's fifty day moving average is $822.31 and its 200-day moving average is $740.94. 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 firm has a market cap of $122.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.69, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42. KLA has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $932.17.

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

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 27,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock worth $8,196,798. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the first quarter valued at $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in KLA by 40.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA in the first quarter valued at $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $93,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.