KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Upgraded at Dbs Bank

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Dbs Bank from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,800.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. New Street Research raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,315.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $1,575.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,601.04.

KLA Stock Up 1.7%

KLA stock opened at $1,452.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $190.45 billion, a PE ratio of 42.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,452.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,231.69. KLA has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $1,693.35.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Westpac Banking Corp grew its holdings in KLA by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 9,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,005,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $292,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 631.6% during the second quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 15,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,603,000 after buying an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Oak Associates Ltd. OH boosted its position in KLA by 1.7% during the second quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $80,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $133,209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.