KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

KLAC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup increased their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $7.67 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $713.93. The stock had a trading volume of 899,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,630. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. KLA has a 1 year low of $369.66 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The company has a market capitalization of $96.54 billion, a PE ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $686.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $603.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in KLA by 2.7% during the first quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $266,000. Sierra Capital LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $262,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,596 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,689,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in KLA by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,791,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.