KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Brian Lorig Sells 59,586 Shares of Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $12,401,634.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. The trade was a 43.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

KLA Trading Down 2.7%

KLA stock opened at $203.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $223.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.84. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.22 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The stock has a market cap of $266.17 billion, a PE ratio of 55.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 25.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on KLAC. Scotiabank set a $200.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Susquehanna set a $215.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.70.

Key KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha upgraded KLA to a “Buy,” arguing that the stock’s recent selloff has improved its risk-reward profile. The company’s latest quarterly results also showed resilient fundamentals, with revenue increasing 15.2% year over year and earnings exceeding consensus estimates. After A Punishing July, KLA Stock Is Now A Buy
• Positive Sentiment: A TCW investment letter highlighted KLA’s positioning to benefit from increasing semiconductor complexity, including advanced process control, AI infrastructure and sophisticated chip packaging. KLA also has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average analyst price target above its recent trading level. KLA Positioned to Benefit from Semiconductor Chip Complexity
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA’s quarterly dividend remains $0.23 per share, payable September 1 to shareholders of record August 17. The dividend provides a modest shareholder return, but its approximately 0.4% yield is unlikely to be a major near-term catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Executive selling remains a notable overhang. EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares worth approximately $12.4 million, reducing his ownership by 43.4%. CEO Richard Wallace also recently sold 87,568 shares for about $17.4 million. Quiver data shows 14 open-market insider sales and no purchases over the past six months. KLA Insider Sale SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Broad semiconductor weakness is also pressuring KLAC. Shares of Broadcom and Applied Materials fell sharply, dragging technology ETFs such as VOO and QQQ and weighing on semiconductor-equipment peers. Investors remain concerned about near-term margins, supply constraints and the possibility that the chip cycle is approaching a peak. KLA Drops 9% in a Month

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in KLA by 17.1% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in KLA by 36.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.