KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by 22 research firms, with 12 hold ratings and 10 buy ratings.
• The average 12-month price target for KLA shares among analysts is $1,040.65, with various firms recently raising their target prices significantly.
• In the past three months, KLA insiders have sold a total of 32,566 shares, valued at approximately $29.31 million, indicating notable insider activity.

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,040.65.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of KLA from $920.00 to $1,115.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of KLA from $970.00 to $1,135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of KLA from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total transaction of $12,090,654.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,128,418. This trade represents a 33.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $7,354,210.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This represents a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,566 shares of company stock valued at $29,313,522. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,564,622 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,221,230,000 after buying an additional 80,154 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,852,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,259,543,000 after buying an additional 404,634 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in KLA by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,645,599 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,026,983,000 after buying an additional 251,339 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in KLA by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,586,781 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,078,526,000 after buying an additional 131,620 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 890,607 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $605,435,000 after buying an additional 33,551 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,182.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,003.14 and a 200-day moving average of $880.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.62. The stock has a market cap of $155.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.50. KLA has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $1,191.26.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. KLA had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 112.41%. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.60 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.01%.

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.

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