Wolfe Research Raises KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Price Target to $1,800.00

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target upped by research analysts at Wolfe Research from $1,500.00 to $1,800.00 in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 18.99% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on KLAC. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $1,550.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $1,600.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on KLA from $1,070.00 to $1,485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $1,100.00 to $1,500.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,477.64.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $1,512.78 on Monday. KLA has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $1,581.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,280.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,104.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.47 by $0.34. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,704,954.10. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of KLA by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 836 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in KLA by 28.6% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.