Insider Selling: KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Sells $4,106,037.60 in Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,225,605.10. The trade was a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $235.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $307.69 billion, a PE ratio of 66.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.41. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.22 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $211.97 and a 200-day moving average of $169.70.

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

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. 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 is currently 26.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $2,250.00 price target (up from $1,700.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $305.00 price target (up from $210.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of KLA from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.34.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 0.4% during the second quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 3,773 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,380,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,118 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,584,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 68,537 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $73,915,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerage notes still describe KLA as a “Buy” or “Overweight” name, suggesting Wall Street continues to view the company’s long-term business quality favorably. KLA (KLAC): New Buy Recommendation for This Technology Giant
• Positive Sentiment: One recent commentary argued KLA may be preferable to ASML right now, reinforcing that investors still see it as a strong semiconductor equipment company. Why I Prefer KLA Corporation Over ASML Right Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Another article highlighted that an independent fund exited the stock because it viewed the valuation as stretched relative to quality, which may add to investor caution but does not change KLA’s operating outlook. Vltava Fund Exited KLA Corporation (KLAC) Amid Price-Quality Imbalance
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports focused on KLAC’s recent drop and described the stock as expensive, with one noting a “dangerous price” relative to fundamentals. That valuation concern is likely the main reason the shares are falling today. KLA: A Great Business At A Dangerous Price
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary also tied KLA’s weakness to broader semiconductor stock selling, with KLAC singled out as one of the larger drags on the sector and on the market index. KLA (KLAC) Stock Moves -11.51%: What You Should Know

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.