KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Cantor Fitzgerald

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price decreased by Cantor Fitzgerald from $325.00 to $225.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on KLAC. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research downgraded KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.35.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $157.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $206.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $178.62 and its 200 day moving average is $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 has a 52-week low of $107.20 and a 52-week high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 89.30%. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.47 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This represents a 43.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

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

About KLA

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.