Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $800.00 to $795.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the semiconductor company's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on KLAC. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $7.93 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $690.99. 1,318,245 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,197,661. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $650.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $727.43. KLA has a 52 week low of $552.85 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. Analysts predict that KLA will post 30.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 32,828.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position 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 worth $185,397,000 after buying an additional 235,597 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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.