Wells Fargo & Company Cuts KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $795.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $800.00 to $795.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna reduced their target price on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $716.25 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $651.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $726.56. KLA has a 12 month low of $552.85 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 30.37 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in KLA by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 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.