KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $1,434.50, but opened at $1,538.00. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $1,600.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $1,250.00. KLA shares last traded at $1,545.4430, with a volume of 221,130 shares traded.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on KLAC. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on KLA from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Argus set a $1,400.00 price target on KLA in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $1,694.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,410.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,704,954.10. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA News Roundup

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new stake in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $292,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments boosted its position in shares of KLA by 631.6% in the 2nd quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 15,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,603,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $237,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $337,000. Finally, Oak Associates Ltd. OH raised its stake in KLA by 1.7% in the second quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $80,721,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The firm has a market cap of $206.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,246.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,081.41.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.47 by $0.34. KLA had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 107.26%. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.33 EPS. KLA’s 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, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

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.