KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• KLA Corporation has received an average analyst rating of "Hold" based on recent evaluations from eighteen analysts, with 11 recommending hold and 7 recommending buy.
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $9.38, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.85, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 23.6%.
• KLA's latest quarterly dividend was $1.90, translating to an annualized dividend of $7.60 and resulting in a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $900.2941.

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at $10,488,132.72. The trade was a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,605 shares of company stock valued at $29,348,291. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mechanics Bank Trust Department purchased a new stake in KLA during the first quarter valued at about $951,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of KLA by 5.2% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 30,522 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $20,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $1,064.13 on Tuesday. KLA has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $1,085.60. The company has a market cap of $140.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.02, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.48. The company's fifty day moving average price is $931.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $827.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. KLA's payout ratio is presently 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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