Royal Bank Of Canada Upgrades KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) to Hold

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on KLA from $1,070.00 to $1,485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $1,100.00 to $1,500.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,410.86.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $1,554.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $204.28 billion, a PE ratio of 48.92, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. KLA has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $1,581.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,239.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,076.74.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.47 by $0.34. KLA had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 107.26%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,704,954.10. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 125.0% during the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded KLAC to “overweight” and raised its price target to $1,600, citing stronger WFE demand and upside from 2nm capacity expansion. Wells Fargo upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein initiated/updated coverage with a “strong-buy”/Outperform view, reinforcing the bullish analyst momentum on KLA’s growth runway. Bernstein coverage
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen upgraded KLA to Buy and other firms (Cantor Fitzgerald, Stifel, BofA) have recently lifted price targets (examples: BofA to $1,650), adding to the upward re-rating by Wall Street. TD Cowen upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target to $1,650, reflecting expectations for continued sales strength in equipment for advanced nodes. BofA price target
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital initiated/updated coverage with a Sector Perform / Hold stance (an “upgrade” to hold was reported), which is less bullish than other shops and may temper some upside expectations. RBC coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Data aggregators highlight substantial insider selling in recent months and note mixed institutional flows; persistent insider sales and KLAC’s rich valuation (high P/E) are potential risks that could limit further gains. QuiverQuant data

KLA Company Profile

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.