Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

Posted by George Bondi on Jul 10th, 2026

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) had its target price raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $191.00 to $270.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 21.33% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on KLAC. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $325.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Scotiabank set a $200.00 price target on KLA in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $140.00 to $186.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on KLA from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.80.

Get Our Latest Research Report on KLA

KLA Stock Down 3.0%

KLAC opened at $222.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $290.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.95. KLA has a twelve month low of $83.22 and a twelve month high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $8.48. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Research analysts forecast that KLA will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total transaction of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 132,333 shares of company stock worth $29,547,170 in the last 90 days. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 4,023.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 86.6% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA grew its stake in shares of KLA by 16.6% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 8,534 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 868.2% in the third quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 2,924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in KLA by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $112,721,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

(Get Free Report)

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.