The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $850.00 to $759.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on KLAC. Citigroup cut their target price on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.47.

KLA Stock Down 0.5 %

KLA stock opened at $683.06 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $650.27 and a 200-day moving average of $728.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA has a twelve month low of $549.63 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 30.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its position in KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 538.5% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in KLA by 655.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its position in KLA by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after buying an additional 27,436 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 14.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after buying an additional 4,112 shares in the last quarter. 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.