KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $815.55.

KLA Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $632.14. 942,634 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 971,903. The business’s 50 day moving average is $704.38 and its 200-day moving average is $758.96. KLA has a 12-month low of $527.11 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its 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 return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $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, analysts anticipate that KLA will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in KLA by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.