KLA’s (KLAC) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on KLAC. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $699.21.

KLA Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $672.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $684.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $598.13. KLA has a 52 week low of $355.88 and a 52 week high of $729.15.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 63.0% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in KLA by 6.5% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 594 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,092 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of KLA by 2.0% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 45,325 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,789,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.