Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Hold Rating for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

KLAC has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.29.

KLA Trading Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $672.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $749.77 and a 200-day moving average of $763.63. The company has a market cap of $90.51 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a one year low of $453.50 and a one year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 29.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 3,052 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,363,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its position in KLA by 10.1% in the third quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 1,476 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its position in KLA by 10.6% during the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 8.3% during the third quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,419 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,068,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,295 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

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.