KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $1,285.00 and last traded at $1,277.6930, with a volume of 22429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,276.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,260.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Argus set a $1,400.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $1,100.00 to $1,500.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on KLA from $1,060.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,275.54.

KLA Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $168.13 billion, a PE ratio of 40.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,194.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,032.07. 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is 23.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total transaction of $12,997,089.30. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in KLA in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in KLA by 125.0% in the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.