Traders Buy Large Volume of KLA Put Options (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 10,731 put options on the company. This is an increase of 514% compared to the average volume of 1,748 put options.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,704,954.10. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 1.1% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 188,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $169,056,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth about $133,209,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $95,217,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its position in shares of KLA by 6.2% in the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $112,721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 101,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $109,351,000 after buying an additional 5,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of KLA from $1,550.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $1,751.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,800.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,565.21.

Trending Headlines about KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA beat Q2 expectations — non‑GAAP EPS $8.85 vs. ~$8.75 estimate and revenue $3.30B vs. ~$3.25B; company reported strong margins, healthy free cash flow and continued capital returns, supporting the longer‑term growth thesis. KLA Corp beats quarterly results estimates on strong chipmaking tool demand (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish overall — several firms raised price targets or reaffirmed buys (Needham, Berenberg, RBC among them), leaving upside to many street targets despite today’s weakness. Berenberg lifts price target on KLA (MarketScreener)
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA sees advanced‑packaging revenue rising mid‑ to high‑teens in 2026 as AI demand boosts process‑control — a positive secular signal but more medium‑term in impact. KLA sees advanced packaging revenue rising mid- to high-teens in 2026 (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA issued Q3 FY26 guidance with a wide EPS range (about $8.30–$9.86) and revenue range ($3.2B–$3.5B) — the EPS midpoint is slightly below consensus, creating uncertainty until the next quarter’s demand picture clears. Q2 earnings call highlights (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction focused on WFE (wafer‑fab equipment) outlook concerns and mixed commentary from the call — headlines highlight a selloff despite the beat, pressuring the stock. KLA falls amid WFE outlook concerns (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Large bearish activity and selling signals today: unusually heavy put buying (10,731 puts, ~514% above typical volume) and intraday data showing a sharp drop and notable insider selling flagged by data providers — these amplify downside pressure. $KLAC stock is down 8% today (Quiver Quantitative)

KLA Stock Down 12.3%

Shares of KLAC traded down $207.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,477.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,064,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,169,343. The stock has a market cap of $194.09 billion, a PE ratio of 46.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.45. KLA has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $1,693.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,319.08 and its 200 day moving average is $1,121.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. KLA had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 107.26%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.20 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 23.86%.

About KLA

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.