KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Sells $17,421,653.60 in Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total transaction of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares in the company, valued at $154,970,908.80. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $7.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $208.25. The company had a trading volume of 10,569,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,624,589. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $223.52 and a 200-day moving average of $183.89. The company has a market capitalization of $272.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.79, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $83.22 and a 12-month high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 25.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citic Securities boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $140.00 to $186.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in KLA by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in KLA by 36.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.