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

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 39,161 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,456% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,517 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of KLA from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $218.00 target price (up from $177.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Argus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $342.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 713,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% 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. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in KLA by 0.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $265,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $133,209,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in KLA by 151.2% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $171,230,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in KLA by 6.2% during the third quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $112,721,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in KLA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,676,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $256.42 on Tuesday. KLA has a 52-week low of $83.22 and a 52-week high of $267.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.03. The company has a market capitalization of $334.96 billion, a PE ratio of 72.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $8.48. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The company’s revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that KLA will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

KLA declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.06%.

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.