KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) CAO Virendra Kirloskar Sells 4,504 Shares of Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $192.85 on Thursday. 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. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $223.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.69. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $83.22 and a twelve month high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

KLA News Summary

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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth $27,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 900.0% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $253.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citic Securities lifted their price target on KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price objective on KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. New Street Research increased their price objective on KLA from $146.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.70.

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.