Bren Higgins Sells 2,254 Shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Bren Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC traded up $52.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1,224.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,055,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,101,115. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1,165.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,009.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.44. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $1,284.47.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.47 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.33 EPS. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.86%.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $111,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its stake in KLA by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $112,721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,109 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.1% in the third quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,781,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.9% during the third quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 358 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $1,100.00 to $1,500.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $1,135.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Argus set a $1,400.00 price target on KLA in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on KLA from $820.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,273.62.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.