Investors Purchase Large Volume of KLA Call Options (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 9,821 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 52% compared to the typical volume of 6,464 call options.

KLA Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $219.37 on Friday. KLA has a fifty-two week low of $83.22 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $286.56 billion, a PE ratio of 62.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.41.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. KLA’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. Equities analysts expect that KLA will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,037.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,225,605.10. This trade represents a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total transaction of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,001,875.68. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 132,333 shares of company stock worth $29,547,170 in the last three months. 91.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 0.4% during the second quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 3,773 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,380,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 1.6% in the second quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $934,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of KLA by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,118 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,584,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $444,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of KLA from $187.50 to $197.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on KLA from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $2,250.00 price objective (up from $1,700.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on KLA from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.26.

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.