Barclays Raises KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $630.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Barclays from $550.00 to $630.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential downside of 10.34% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $703.42.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC traded up $29.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $702.67. 184,592 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 949,517. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $684.51 and its 200 day moving average is $598.13. The stock has a market cap of $95.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. KLA has a 1-year low of $369.00 and a 1-year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of KLA by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Chico Wealth RIA lifted its position in KLA by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,277,000 after buying an additional 14,251 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd grew its holdings in KLA by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 15,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in KLA by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. 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.