KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) had its price target upped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $274.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.52% from the company’s current price.
Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citic Securities raised their target price on shares of KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on KLA from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on KLA from $170.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $2,250.00 price target (up from $1,700.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.34.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on KLAC
KLA Trading Up 3.4%
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.
KLA declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Activity at KLA
In other news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,225,605.10. The trade was a 21.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 104,632 shares of company stock worth $22,187,291 over the last three months. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 0.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $265,444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in KLA by 151.2% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $171,230,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in KLA by 6.2% in the third 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. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,676,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $119,618,000. 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.
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