Oppenheimer Upgrades KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) to Outperform

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $850.00 price target on the semiconductor company's stock, up from their previous price target of $750.00.

KLAC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $802.90.

KLA Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of KLAC traded down $25.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $666.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,000,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,693. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. KLA has a 52-week low of $453.50 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The business's fifty day moving average is $749.77 and its 200 day moving average is $763.63. The firm has a market cap of $89.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. KLA's revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA will post 29.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 11.3% during the third quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 2,409 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 12.7% in the third quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 4,142 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 8.7% in the third quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 998 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,459,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olympiad Research LP lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 139.3% in the third quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 1,029 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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.