KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Upgraded by Royal Bank Of Canada to Hold Rating

Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KLAC. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,595.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,500.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on KLA from $1,010.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of KLA from $820.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,410.86.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $1,572.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.11, 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,239.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,076.74. KLA has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $1,578.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.33 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,704,954.10. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 1.1% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 188,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $169,056,000 after buying an additional 2,117 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $133,209,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $95,217,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its holdings in KLA by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $112,721,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of KLA by 5.8% in the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 101,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $109,351,000 after purchasing an additional 5,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about KLA

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

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.