Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $800.00 to $750.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

KLAC has been the topic of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Argus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.90.

KLA Trading Up 0.5 %

KLA stock opened at $669.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $89.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.29. KLA has a one year low of $484.33 and a one year high of $896.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $744.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $763.38.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that KLA will post 29.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 538.5% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in KLA by 655.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,194,000 after acquiring an additional 23,747 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 1,579.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,589,000 after acquiring an additional 6,175 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in KLA by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 76,951 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $53,756,000 after acquiring an additional 10,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.