Insider Selling: KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Sells 4,512 Shares of Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard Wallace sold 4,512 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,794.00, for a total transaction of $8,094,528.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $136,155,630. This represents a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

KLA Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of KLAC stock traded down $33.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $1,811.35. 1,028,735 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,080,470. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.50. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $740.44 and a one year high of $1,939.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,615.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,420.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.03.

Shares of KLA are going to split before the market opens on Friday, June 12th. The 10-1 split was announced on Thursday, May 7th. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, June 11th.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.17 by $0.23. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.41 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 37.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 21.51%.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $133,209,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $119,618,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its stake 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 worth $171,230,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 69.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 87,547 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $94,422,000 after buying an additional 35,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,812,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut KLA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,865.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,838.48.

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.