Wells Fargo & Company Cuts KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $800.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $870.00 to $800.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.30.

KLA Trading Up 0.9 %

KLAC opened at $648.34 on Friday. KLA has a 12 month low of $530.07 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $687.30 and a 200 day moving average of $754.15. The firm has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 30.63 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after acquiring an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.