Wells Fargo & Company Cuts KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $800.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $870.00 to $800.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price suggests a potential upside of 23.39% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KLAC. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup reduced their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $812.30.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded up $5.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $648.34. 862,519 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,222,015. KLA has a 1-year low of $530.07 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.72 billion, a PE ratio of 29.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $687.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $754.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA will post 30.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 76,452.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $185,397,000 after acquiring an additional 235,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by 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.