Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $795.00 to $870.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on KLAC. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $829.32.

KLA Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $738.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $675.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $717.84. KLA has a 52 week low of $581.70 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at $53,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.