Wolfe Research Issues Positive Forecast for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wolfe Research raised its price target on KLA to $2,000 (from $1,800) and kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 15.79% upside from the stock's current price.
• Several other firms have also lifted targets (Stifel, Cantor Fitzgerald, Needham, Argus, DBS), leaving KLA with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of about $1,614.79 amid 20 Buy and 11 Hold analyst ratings.
• KLA reported a quarterly beat (EPS $8.85 vs. $8.75; revenue $3.30B, +7.1% YoY), shows strong profitability (ROE 98.18%, net margin 35.76%), and its board authorized a $7 billion share repurchase (≈3.7% of shares).

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Wolfe Research from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 in a report released on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Wolfe Research's price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.79% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,800.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on KLA from $1,850.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Argus upped their price objective on KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,750.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded KLA from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,614.79.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $1,727.26 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $1,474.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,316.05. The firm has a market cap of $226.41 billion, a PE ratio of 50.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. KLA has a 52-week low of $607.70 and a 52-week high of $1,734.70.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The business had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,209,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its stake in KLA by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $112,721,000 after buying an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in KLA by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 101,382 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $109,351,000 after buying an additional 5,586 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its position in KLA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $117,676,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $119,618,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Company Profile

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA's offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.