Key Points
- KLA CEO Richard Wallace sold 4,512 shares on June 11 for about $9.99 million, reducing his ownership by 5.95% while still holding a stake valued at roughly $158 million.
- The company recently posted very strong earnings, reporting $9.40 EPS versus expectations of $0.92 and revenue of $3.42 billion, with revenue up 11.5% year over year.
- KLA is returning cash and buying back stock through a quarterly dividend and a newly authorized $7 billion share repurchase program, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating.
KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) CEO Richard Wallace sold 4,512 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,213.37, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 71,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.
KLA Price Performance
NASDAQ KLAC opened at $254.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.25 billion, a PE ratio of 7.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $186.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.43. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $83.22 and a 12-month high of $254.93.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The company's revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
KLA Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. KLA's payout ratio is 26.04%.
KLA announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Institutional Trading of KLA
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth $133,209,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $119,618,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in KLA by 151.2% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $171,230,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in KLA by 69.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 87,547 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $94,422,000 after acquiring an additional 35,770 shares during the period. Finally, Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $32,812,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $150.50 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citic Securities boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $342.44.
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About KLA
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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.
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