KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Sells $12,378,625.72 in Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total value of $12,378,625.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 706,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

KLA Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $167.36. 6,616,440 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,279,316. The firm has a market cap of $218.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.64, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.38. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $97.63 and a 52-week high of $307.37. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank set a $200.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.22.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of KLA by 928.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,471,832,000 after buying an additional 13,381,153 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,522,430,000. National Pension Service grew its holdings in KLA by 899.4% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,096,673,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271,158 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 987.0% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,486,000 after purchasing an additional 889,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its position in shares of KLA by 960.4% in the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $279,580,000 after purchasing an additional 839,265 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management technologies used by semiconductor and other advanced-electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect, measure and analyze defects and variations during the production of integrated circuits, enabling manufacturers to improve process performance, product quality and manufacturing yields.

The company’s portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect-review and analysis equipment, and software that supports process control and data management.