Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

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

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.60.

KLA Trading Up 1.4 %

KLAC opened at $757.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA has a twelve month low of $577.00 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $654.99 and a 200-day moving average of $726.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA will post 30.37 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 538.5% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of KLA by 655.8% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after purchasing an additional 23,747 shares during the period. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in KLA by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after buying an additional 27,436 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in KLA by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,722,000 after buying an additional 4,112 shares in the last quarter. 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.