KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) PT Lowered to $870.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target cut by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $950.00 to $870.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 12.90% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $804.81.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded down $6.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $770.58. The company had a trading volume of 288,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,322. The firm has a market cap of $103.75 billion, a PE ratio of 40.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. KLA has a 1-year low of $449.35 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $768.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $759.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that KLA will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in KLA by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 27,383 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust increased its holdings in KLA by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 11,997 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,291,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in KLA by 41,062.2% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 99,201 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $81,792,000 after purchasing an additional 98,960 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 106.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 689 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,935,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently 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.