KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given New $795.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $800.00 to $795.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on KLAC. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $716.25 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $95.81 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $651.44 and a 200-day moving average of $726.56. KLA has a 12-month low of $552.85 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 30.37 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. Stockholders 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 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in KLA during the third quarter worth about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.