KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Upgraded to “Buy” at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $1,800.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $1,300.00.

KLAC has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America raised their target price on KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $1,135.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,500.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,060.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,351.44.

KLA Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $1,441.82 on Tuesday. KLA has a one year low of $551.33 and a one year high of $1,469.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The company has a market cap of $189.44 billion, a PE ratio of 45.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,228.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,070.93.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.47 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. KLA had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 107.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total transaction of $12,997,089.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Close Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth approximately $133,209,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth approximately $95,217,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of KLA by 5,697.9% during the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 97,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,094,000 after purchasing an additional 95,554 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 69.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 87,547 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $94,422,000 after purchasing an additional 35,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in KLA by 418.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,227 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,524,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key KLA News

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.