Analysts Set KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target at $1,040.65

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,040.65.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on KLA from $922.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $950.00 price objective (up previously from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $1,093.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd.

KLA Stock Up 2.7%

KLA stock opened at $1,215.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.50. KLA has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $1,221.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,009.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $887.54.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.41% and a net margin of 33.41%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.60 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 25.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total transaction of $12,090,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,128,418. The trade was a 33.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $9,868,657.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,805,950.24. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,566 shares of company stock valued at $29,313,522. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in KLA by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 4,998 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,390,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $183,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of KLA by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,703 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,387,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.