KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target Raised to $1,650.00 at Bank of America

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective boosted by Bank of America from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on KLAC. Citic Securities upped their target price on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $1,350.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wolfe Research set a $1,500.00 price objective on KLA in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on KLA from $1,010.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on KLA from $1,135.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on KLA from $1,154.00 to $1,214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,351.44.

KLA Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,441.82 on Tuesday. KLA has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $1,469.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,228.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,070.93. 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 company has a market capitalization of $189.44 billion, a PE ratio of 45.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.47 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. Research analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of KLA 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale 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 the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,704,954.10. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in KLA during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in KLA during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen upgraded KLAC from “hold” to “buy” and raised its price target to $1,800, signaling strong analyst conviction for further upside; this upgrade is a near-term catalyst behind the share strength. KLA Corp. rises on back of TD Cowen upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on KLAC to $1,650 and retained a “buy” rating, reinforcing the analyst-driven momentum and contributing to investor confidence. Bank of America raises KLAC price target
• Positive Sentiment: Market write-ups (e.g., Zacks) note KLAC’s recent outperformance versus the market — a reminder that the company beat recent quarterly EPS estimates and set upbeat guidance, which underpins analyst upgrades and investor interest. KLA (KLAC) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data in the recent feed appears inconsistent (shows a large increase but lists zero shares and NaN changes) — likely a reporting/data glitch; current figures do not provide a clear bearish signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some items in the news stream were about Klarna (KLAR), not KLA, and are unrelated to KLA’s stock drivers — ignore those when assessing KLA-specific momentum. Klarna CEO Calls Credit Card Industry an ‘Extraction Machine’

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.