KLA Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 17,110 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 181% compared to the average daily volume of 6,081 put options.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,225,605.10. The trade was a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 132,333 shares of company stock worth $29,547,170 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Motco grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 405 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Bank Corp raised its stake in KLA by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC raised its stake in KLA by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 305 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $230.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.21, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.41. KLA has a one year low of $83.22 and a one year high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $218.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.09.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $190.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.80.

KLA Company Profile

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.