Virendra Kirloskar Sells 1,565 Shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 1,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.59, for a total transaction of $299,838.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,476 shares in the company, valued at $2,390,276.84. The trade was a 11.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $192.85 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $223.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.92 billion, a PE ratio of 52.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.22 and a 1 year high of $307.37.

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 firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. Motco lifted its position 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 lifted its position in shares of KLA by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 305 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Argus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank set a $200.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $240.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.70.

Key Stories Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A broad semiconductor rally, fueled by renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence, strong memory demand and upcoming chip-industry earnings, supports the outlook for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment. Semiconductor Rally Powers S&P 500 to Fresh Record High
• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: revenue rose 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion, while EPS of $1.05 topped the $1.00 consensus estimate. Management also issued quarterly EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26, offering support for the company’s growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually high options activity, including elevated call volume, indicates that some traders are positioning for a rebound after the stock’s recent retreat. Options activity is a sentiment signal rather than a fundamental catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable, with a reported “Moderate Buy” consensus and several price targets above recent trading levels. However, KLA’s valuation is demanding, with a price-to-earnings ratio above 50, leaving the stock vulnerable to disappointment if semiconductor capital spending slows. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its Huge Run
• Negative Sentiment: CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares for approximately $881,000, while EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares worth about $2.70 million. These transactions reduced their holdings by roughly 36% and 38%, respectively, adding to a recent pattern of insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: DekaBank disclosed a roughly 90% reduction in its KLA position, equivalent to approximately 2.86 million shares valued near $862 million at the reporting date. Although the 13F reflects holdings as of June 30 rather than current trading, the disclosure may reinforce concerns about institutional profit-taking.

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.