KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Needham & Company LLC Analyst Says

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price upped by Needham & Company LLC from $800.00 to $830.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $829.32.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $738.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a twelve month low of $581.70 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $673.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $718.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 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.