Needham & Company LLC Issues Positive Forecast for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective boosted by Needham & Company LLC from $800.00 to $830.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on KLAC. UBS Group raised their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $829.32.

KLA Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $738.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $673.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $718.67. 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 1 year low of $581.70 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently 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.