KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Cut to $700.00 by Analysts at Barclays

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $750.00 to $700.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on KLAC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.60.

KLA Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $757.47 on Friday. KLA has a 12-month low of $577.00 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $654.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $726.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that KLA will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 235,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.