KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Upgraded by Needham & Company LLC to “Buy” Rating

Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has $750.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

KLAC has been the topic of several other research reports. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $690.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA has a one year low of $552.85 and a one year high of $896.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $650.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $727.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27.

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. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,194,000 after purchasing an additional 23,747 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 14.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.