KLA Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 9,821 call options on the company. This is an increase of 52% compared to the average volume of 6,464 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,001,875.68. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 132,333 shares of company stock worth $29,547,170 in the last ninety days. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in KLA by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in KLA by 781.5% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 359,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $108,397,000 after acquiring an additional 318,520 shares in the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 600.7% during the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 31,561 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,522,000 after purchasing an additional 27,057 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth $262,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co lifted its position in shares of KLA by 900.0% during the second quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $13.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $216.72. The company had a trading volume of 3,837,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,492,608. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. KLA has a twelve month low of $83.22 and a twelve month high of $307.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $218.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.10 billion, a PE ratio of 61.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.41.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on KLA from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $325.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.12.

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.