KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $950.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on KLA from $930.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $980.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $1,139.71 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $952.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $841.99. KLA has a one year low of $551.33 and a one year high of $1,155.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.50.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 25.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total value of $12,090,654.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,128,418. This trade represents a 33.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 transaction of $7,354,210.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This represents a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,566 shares of company stock valued at $29,313,522. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in KLA by 4,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth $32,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.