KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given New $1,315.00 Price Target at New Street Research

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective raised by New Street Research from $1,230.00 to $1,315.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on KLAC. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $1,100.00 to $1,500.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on KLA from $820.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Argus set a $1,400.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,454.43.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $8.98 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1,508.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 229,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,331. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.69. KLA has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $1,581.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,272.62 and its 200-day moving average is $1,098.25. The firm has a market cap of $198.26 billion, a PE ratio of 47.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.45.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.86%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.