KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $890.5882.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $980.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen upped their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on KLA from $1,035.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% 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, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total transaction of $12,090,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,372 shares in the company, valued at $24,128,418. This represents a 33.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,605 shares of company stock valued at $29,348,291 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

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

KLA Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $873.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $115.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.48. KLA has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $959.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $902.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $792.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.01%.

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.