KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday.

KLAC has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $747.40.

KLA Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $3.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $827.79. 480,150 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 905,419. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $759.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $681.98. KLA has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $876.55. The company has a market cap of $111.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 23.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,726,714.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,861 shares of company stock valued at $16,795,913 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,048,728,000. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter valued at $627,399,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in KLA during the 1st quarter worth $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in KLA by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after purchasing an additional 301,848 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.