Citigroup Lowers KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $900.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $960.00 to $900.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 21.69% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus lifted 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. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.80.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $739.60 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $779.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $754.41. KLA has a 12-month low of $440.15 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $99.58 billion, a PE ratio of 38.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 77.3% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.