KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Given Buy Rating at Argus

Argus restated their buy rating on shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $225.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on KLAC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $245.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on KLA from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.35.

KLA Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $157.91 on Friday. KLA has a twelve month low of $107.20 and a twelve month high of $307.37. The firm has a market cap of $206.07 billion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 89.30% and a net margin of 36.25%. The business’s revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.47 EPS. Analysts expect that KLA will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $2,698,291.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,322,505. This represents a 38.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in KLA by 928.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,471,832,000 after acquiring an additional 13,381,153 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth $2,522,430,000. National Pension Service raised its position in KLA by 899.4% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,096,673,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271,158 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in KLA by 239.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,614,990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,094,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959,927 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 11.5% during the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,418,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $471,419,000 after purchasing an additional 248,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Key KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of approximately $4.14 billion and earnings of $1.22 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $4.04 billion and $1.18 per share. Revenue increased 28.9% year over year, marking the company’s 10th consecutive quarter of growth. KLAC Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company issued fiscal Q2 revenue guidance of $4.5 billion to $4.9 billion, implying roughly $4.7 billion at the midpoint versus consensus of $4.5 billion. EPS guidance of $1.33 to $1.55 also brackets or exceeds the $1.36 consensus estimate, reinforcing expectations for continued AI-driven demand. KLA Q2 Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Demand for wafer inspection, process-control and advanced-packaging equipment is benefiting from the increasing complexity of AI chips and the construction of leading-edge semiconductor fabs. Argus reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $225 price target, while JPMorgan raised its target to $240 and maintained Overweight. Advanced Packaging Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed. Several firms lowered price targets after earnings—including Wells Fargo, Needham, Evercore ISI, Cantor Fitzgerald, Susquehanna and UBS—citing valuation, structural share headwinds or a more cautious risk-reward profile, even though many retained positive or neutral ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: KLAC is declining in sympathy with semiconductor shares as investors question whether elevated AI infrastructure spending can continue at its current pace. The pullback also leaves the stock below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, increasing near-term technical pressure despite the strong operating outlook. KLA Shares Weaken as Semiconductor Stocks Fall

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.