KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives $1,275.54 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,290.9231.

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. New Street Research upped their price target on KLA from $980.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of KLA to $1,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of KLA from $1,200.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,135.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $1,400.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,218.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,062.15. KLA has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $1,406.97. The stock has a market cap of $183.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.96, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.47 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 23.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,704,954.10. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $133,209,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at $95,217,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in KLA by 5,697.9% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 97,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,094,000 after purchasing an additional 95,554 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in KLA by 110.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 82,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $55,820,000 after purchasing an additional 43,131 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in KLA during the 1st quarter worth $26,473,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About KLA

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.