KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $1,600.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $1,250.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.56% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on KLA from $1,010.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,100.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on KLA from $1,120.00 to $1,280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $1,694.00 price target on KLA in a report on Thursday. Finally, New Street Research increased their target price on shares of KLA from $980.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,410.86.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,544.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. KLA has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $1,571.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,239.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,076.74. The stock has a market cap of $202.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.51, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $97,704,954.10. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% 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.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 125.0% in the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in KLA during the third quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded KLA to Overweight/Buy, citing stronger WFE demand as fabs ramp for 2nm and driving upward revisions to sales and earnings expectations. Why KLA Corp Stock Popped Today
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen upgraded KLA to Buy, joining other firms raising conviction that the chip-equipment cycle is accelerating and supporting higher revenue traction. TD Cowen Upgrades KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein initiated coverage with an Outperform and set a $1,700 price target; Bank of America also raised its target to $1,650 — these high targets reinforce upside expectations and likely supported buying. New Analyst Forecast: $KLAC Given $1700 Price Target Bank of America Boosts KLA Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital initiated coverage with a Sector Perform rating — a more cautious stance that suggests some analysts see less near-term upside than the most bullish shops. RBC Capital initiates coverage of KLA
• Neutral Sentiment: Market-data trackers show heavy intraday volume and KLAC among the most-searched tickers, indicating momentum-driven flows and institutional rebalancing behind the move. $KLAC stock is up 7% today. Here’s what we see in our data.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has been active (multiple recent open-market sales by executives), which can be a signal for some investors to take profits or be cautious about near-term upside. $KLAC insider activity
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is elevated (mid-to-high 40s P/E on trailing/consensus numbers per recent coverage); some outlets flag that KLAC trades at a premium to historical multiples, which increases sensitivity to execution or cyclical risks. Valuation note

About KLA

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.