KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $1,750.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price boosted by Argus from $1,400.00 to $1,750.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Argus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 30.79% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on KLAC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,500.00 to $1,850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $1,575.00 price objective on KLA in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,751.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, New Street Research increased their price target on shares of KLA from $1,315.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,595.39.

KLA Stock Up 2.4%

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $30.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,338.01. 765,989 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,301,670. KLA has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $1,693.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,338.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,135.42. The company has a market cap of $175.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares in the company, valued at $97,704,954.10. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at about $292,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments raised its holdings in KLA by 631.6% in the 2nd quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 15,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,603,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $237,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $337,000. Finally, Oak Associates Ltd. OH increased its position in KLA by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $80,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.