Insider Selling: KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Sells $822,879.05 in Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 4,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.59, for a total value of $822,879.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,912 shares in the company, valued at $6,880,380.08. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Mary Beth Wilkinson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 5th, Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of KLA stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $2,698,291.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of KLA stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60.

KLA Trading Up 0.2%

KLAC stock opened at $193.22 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $83.22 and a one year high of $307.37. The stock has a market cap of $252.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $223.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $253.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,522,430,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in KLA by 978.2% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,164,000 after acquiring an additional 779,317 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in KLA by 781.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 359,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $108,397,000 after acquiring an additional 318,520 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $265,444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in shares of KLA by 151.2% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $171,230,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share, payable in September. The dividend reinforces shareholder returns and signals continued confidence in the company’s cash generation. KLA Declares Regular Cash Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: KLA recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.05 in EPS versus the $1.00 consensus and revenue of $3.66 billion, up 15.2% year over year. Guidance for the next quarter of $1.06 to $1.26 per share supports the growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: A broader semiconductor rally driven by artificial-intelligence optimism, strong memory demand and expectations for chip-industry earnings is favorable for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment demand. Semiconductor Rally Powers S&P 500 to Fresh Record High
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a reported “Moderate Buy” consensus and several price targets above recent levels. However, KLA trades at a price-to-earnings ratio above 50, making the shares sensitive to any slowdown in semiconductor capital spending. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its Huge Run
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares for approximately $881,000, while EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares worth about $2.70 million. The sales reduced their holdings by roughly 36% and 38%, respectively, adding to a pattern of insider selling, although some transactions were related to equity-award tax obligations.
• Negative Sentiment: DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reported cutting its KLA position by approximately 2.86 million shares, or 90%, as of June 30. Because the disclosure is delayed, it is not necessarily a current trading signal, but it may reinforce concerns about institutional profit-taking and KLA’s elevated valuation.

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.