KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given New $1,460.00 Price Target at New Street Research

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at New Street Research from $1,230.00 to $1,460.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. New Street Research’s target price suggests a potential downside of 4.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on KLAC. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 13th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,751.00 to $1,809.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,607.64.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $57.71 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,530.12. 105,112 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,117,996. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,474.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,292.47. The company has a market cap of $200.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.35, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.45. KLA has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $1,693.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in KLA by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth $40,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.