KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Upgraded at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on KLAC. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $1,694.00 price target on KLA in a research note on Thursday. New Street Research boosted their price objective on KLA from $980.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,010.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,000.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,410.86.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $1,567.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $206.00 billion, a PE ratio of 49.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,246.53 and a 200-day moving average of $1,081.41. KLA has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $1,581.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,704,954.10. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in KLA by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Key KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple broker upgrades and raised price targets — Wells Fargo (overweight, $1,600 PT), Bernstein (strong-buy/outperform), TD Cowen (buy) and others have recently upgraded or increased targets, supporting momentum and buy-side interest. Wells Fargo upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: TSMC’s $52–$56B 2026 CapEx directly benefits equipment and inspection suppliers; MarketBeat highlights KLA as a key beneficiary because higher process-control intensity for 2nm increases inspection demand and recurring service/replacement revenue. The $56 Billion Draft
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: large funds (e.g., FMR, UBS AM, Arrowstreet) have materially increased KLAC positions in recent filings, providing demand support and validating the growth narrative. $KLAC up 7% — QuiverQuant
• Positive Sentiment: Positive media/market attention — commentators like Jim Cramer and momentum pieces (Zacks, MarketBeat summaries) are drawing retail and momentum flows into the name. Jim Cramer: KLA is “Terrific”
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC initiated coverage with a sector‑perform (neutral) stance; that provides coverage breadth but is not a bullish endorsement. RBC coverage initiation
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum and stock‑narrative pieces (e.g., Zacks) highlight KLAC as a momentum pick — supports technical-driven flows but increases sensitivity to sentiment reversals. Zacks momentum piece
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy insider selling over the past 6 months — multiple executives (including the CEO) sold large blocks of shares, which can signal cashing out and may concern some investors about near-term conviction. QuiverQuant insider trading & lobbying summary
• Negative Sentiment: Lobbying disclosures show KLA spent ~$170k in Q4 2025 on trade-policy and R&D/tax issues (routine but highlights regulatory focus around export controls and China trade policy). Could matter if geopolitical measures tighten equipment exports. Lobbying disclosure

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.