KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives $1,838.48 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,838.4815.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on KLA from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,865.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on KLA from $1,575.00 to $1,835.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $1,750.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 30th.

KLA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA continues to be viewed as a major beneficiary of AI chip investment, with demand for process-control and inspection tools supporting growth and backlog visibility.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary says KLA is “quietly dominating” the 2nm hyperscaler race, reinforcing the bullish long-term demand narrative for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s recent quarterly report topped expectations, with earnings and revenue both ahead of consensus, which supports the stock’s fundamental backdrop. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is set to complete a 10-for-1 stock split, which can increase trading activity and attract retail interest, but does not change underlying fundamentals. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also an article highlighting a recent insider share sale, but it was small relative to KLA’s market capitalization and does not by itself signal a major shift in the outlook. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 4,512 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,794.00, for a total value of $8,094,528.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $136,155,630. This represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $133,209,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $119,618,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 151.2% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $171,230,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in KLA by 69.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 35,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinebridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,812,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 4.7%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $1,804.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,643.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,437.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 2.11. KLA has a 1-year low of $740.44 and a 1-year high of $1,939.36. The firm has a market cap of $235.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.07, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.50.

KLA shares are going to split on Friday, June 12th. The 10-1 split was announced on Thursday, May 7th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, June 11th.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.17 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.41 EPS. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA will post 37.06 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. KLA’s payout ratio is 26.04%.

KLA declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.