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

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $290.00 to $275.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (down from $190.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets set a $133.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of KLA from $245.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.35.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $157.91 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $178.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.78. The firm 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. KLA has a 1 year low of $107.20 and a 1 year high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.76.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. KLA had a return on equity of 89.30% and a net margin of 36.25%. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that KLA will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,970,908.80. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454. Insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 10,377 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its position in KLA by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 16,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,174,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 10.2% during the third quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $83,499,000 after acquiring an additional 39,185 shares during the period. Third View Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 1.9% during the third quarter. Third View Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,333 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,624,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the third quarter valued at about $732,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

More 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.