KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $1,485.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,070.00 to $1,485.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on KLAC. Bank of America increased their price target on KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,260.00 price objective on KLA in a research note on Thursday. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on KLA from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,228.29.

KLA Trading Down 0.5%

KLA stock opened at $1,208.74 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,037.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $902.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.62. KLA has a one year low of $551.33 and a one year high of $1,284.47. The stock has a market cap of $159.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.47 by $0.34. KLA had a return on equity of 113.10% and a net margin of 33.83%.The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $9,868,657.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,805,950.24. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This represents a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,566 shares of company stock worth $29,313,522. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 3.4% in the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in KLA by 1.2% in the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 836 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in KLA by 3.9% in the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 1.9% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 581 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 1.1% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.