KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Upgraded at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Berenberg Bank lifted 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,100.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,070.00 to $1,485.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on 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 given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,410.86.

KLA Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of KLAC opened at $1,567.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $206.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.23, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.45. KLA has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $1,581.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,246.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,081.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,704,954.10. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 125.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in KLA during the third quarter worth $40,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA News Summary

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

About KLA

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.