Zacks Research Downgrades KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) to Hold

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on KLAC. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price objective on KLA and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, 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. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.22.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $196.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. KLA has a 12 month low of $98.10 and a 12 month high of $307.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $187.56 and a 200 day moving average of $193.00. The firm has a market cap of $256.47 billion, a PE ratio of 53.59, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that KLA will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $2,698,291.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,322,505. This represents a 38.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 271,040 shares of company stock valued at $54,263,333. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at about $2,522,430,000. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 899.4% in 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 in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 987.0% in the second quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,486,000 after acquiring an additional 889,269 shares during the period. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its holdings in KLA by 960.4% during the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $279,580,000 after acquiring an additional 839,265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management solutions used by semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect defects, measure and analyze materials and structures, and monitor manufacturing processes throughout the production of integrated circuits and other advanced electronic components.

The company’s product portfolio includes inspection and metrology systems, wafer and reticle inspection equipment, process-control software, data analytics tools, and related services.