KLA’s (KLAC) Hold Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by Jefferies Financial Group in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $725.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 3.57% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on KLAC. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $825.39.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $700.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $729.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $703.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in KLA by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in KLA by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,563,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 60.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. 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.