KLA Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 7,243 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 58% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,574 call options.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $301.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $208.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.42. KLA has a 12-month low of $83.22 and a 12-month high of $307.37. The company has a market capitalization of $394.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $8.48. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Analysts anticipate that KLA will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.06%.

KLA declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 713,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,996,990.71. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 91.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 4,023.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,937,000 after buying an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 69,563 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $74,898,000 after acquiring an additional 8,973 shares during the period. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 8,534 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 54,252 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on KLA’s growth outlook, with notes suggesting it can outgrow the wafer equipment market through 2027 thanks to AI-related demand and advanced packaging exposure.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst action included higher price targets on KLA and other semiconductor equipment names, reinforcing the bullish case for the stock. Article: Can KLA Corporation (KLAC) Capture Its Share of a $250 Billion Global Chip Equipment Market?
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm is also being supported by KLA’s upbeat quarterly outlook, which called for stronger-than-expected wafer fab equipment spending in 2026, plus a new $7 billion share repurchase authorization.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual call buying was reported in KLAC, signaling that some traders are positioning for more upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent article headlines centered on valuation and “the math hidden in its price,” suggesting the stock may have already re-rated sharply and could be vulnerable if expectations cool. Article: KLAC Stock: The Math Hidden In Its Price

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on KLAC. Argus increased their price target on shares of KLA from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Dbs Bank raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.34.

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.