KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard Wallace Sells 72,019 Shares

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total transaction of $12,378,625.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares in the company, valued at $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $167.36 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $194.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.49. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.63 and a 1 year high of $307.37. The stock has a market cap of $218.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’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. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in KLA by 6.8% during the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Motco raised its position in shares of KLA by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 405 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. SouthState Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 796 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $967,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna set a $215.00 price objective on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer restated 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.22.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management technologies used by semiconductor and other advanced-electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect, measure and analyze defects and variations during the production of integrated circuits, enabling manufacturers to improve process performance, product quality and manufacturing yields.

The company’s portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect-review and analysis equipment, and software that supports process control and data management.