KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Increased to $698.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $692.00 to $698.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 1.28% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $720.42.

KLA Stock Up 5.1 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $34.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $707.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 547,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,259. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.61 billion, a PE ratio of 35.94, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a 1-year low of $369.00 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $684.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $598.13.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About KLA

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.