KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Oppenheimer Analyst Says

KLA (NASDAQ:KLACGet Free Report) had its price target increased by Oppenheimer from $740.00 to $950.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.05% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $807.06.

Get Our Latest Report on KLA

KLA Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $871.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $747.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $713.30. KLA has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $914.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLACGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 112.97% and a net margin of 31.99%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of KLA by 4,100.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

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