KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Raised to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $870.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $748.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 29.16% from the stock’s current price.

KLAC has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $832.17.

KLA Trading Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $673.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA has a 1-year low of $609.40 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $727.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $702.72.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. On average, equities analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.