KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $1,285.00 and last traded at $1,277.6930, with a volume of 22429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,276.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on KLA from $1,170.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citic Securities increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $1,350.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,100.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on KLA from $1,100.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,275.54.

KLA Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,191.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,027.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $167.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.44.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. KLA’s payout ratio is 23.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 1.2% during the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 836 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.9% during the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in KLA by 28.6% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.