Jefferies Financial Group Lowers KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $1,700.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $1,850.00 to $1,700.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.83% from the stock’s current price.

KLAC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Dbs Bank raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $1,575.00 price objective on KLA in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,602.29.

KLA Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of KLA stock opened at $1,418.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $185.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.28, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,464.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,240.74. KLA has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $1,693.35.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,209,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the second quarter worth about $95,217,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its holdings in KLA by 6.2% in the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $112,721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,109 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of KLA by 5.8% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 101,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $109,351,000 after acquiring an additional 5,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 95,554 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA announced a $7 billion buyback, raised its quarterly dividend ~21% (to $2.30), and reaffirmed March‑quarter guidance — a direct shareholder‑friendly action that typically supports the stock and EPS per share over time. PR Newswire: KLA Hosts Investor Day; Announces $7 Billion Repurchase and Dividend Increase
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its price target from $1,800 to $1,900 and kept an outperform rating — a bullish analyst signal that increases upside expectations for investors. TickerReport: Oppenheimer raises KLAC price target
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA hosted Investor Day (slides and presentations available). The event reinforced management messaging on demand drivers (AI/advanced packaging) and capital allocation, providing detail but not changing guidance. Useful for longer‑term thesis but less of an immediate shock. Seeking Alpha: KLA Investor Day Slideshow
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry pieces (Zacks, Yahoo/MarketBeat) reiterate KLA’s exposure to accelerating wafer‑fabrication and AI chip demand; these reinforce the secular growth story but are broader‑market context rather than new company‑specific catalysts. Zacks: Industry outlook / stock commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary has revived speculation about a possible stock split given the share price level and recent capital returns; this is speculative and would be a sentiment boost if announced. MarketBeat: 3 Stocks That Could Be Next to Announce a Stock Split
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies trimmed its price target to $1,700 (from $1,850) while keeping a buy rating — a modestly negative signal that tempers upside expectations and may limit near‑term analyst momentum despite the buyback. Benzinga: Jefferies lowers KLAC price target
• Negative Sentiment: Some intraday/technical commentary flagged a pullback in recent sessions (short‑term volatility reports); investors should watch near‑term profit‑taking given the stock’s strong multi‑quarter run. Zacks: Sector commentary and recent price action

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.