KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Upgraded at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $750.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

KLAC has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $809.10.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock opened at $716.25 on Monday. KLA has a 12 month low of $552.85 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $95.81 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $651.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $726.56. 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) last posted its 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. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 538.5% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,765,000 after buying an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its position in KLA by 655.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of KLA by 52.4% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 14.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.