The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $850.00 to $759.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 11.45% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.47.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $5.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $681.04. 420,720 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,034,587. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $649.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $730.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $549.63 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.74 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA will post 30.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 28.4% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.7% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 91,004 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $75,033,000 after acquiring an additional 4,879 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in KLA by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,124 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 7.0% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,455 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,147,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in KLA by 8.5% in the second quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.