Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.24% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $1,093.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,009.40.

KLA Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of KLAC opened at $1,025.71 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $968.98 and a 200 day moving average of $854.93. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $1,155.00. The firm has a market cap of $135.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.62.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $9,868,657.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,805,950.24. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,566 shares of company stock worth $29,313,522. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,564,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,221,230,000 after buying an additional 80,154 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,852,814 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,259,543,000 after buying an additional 404,634 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,645,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,026,983,000 after buying an additional 251,339 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,586,781 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,078,526,000 after buying an additional 131,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 890,607 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $605,435,000 after buying an additional 33,551 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About KLA

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.