KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) CAO Virendra Kirloskar Sells 4,504 Shares of Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

KLA Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of KLAC traded down $2.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $192.85. The stock had a trading volume of 10,009,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,671,193. The company has a market cap of $251.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.22 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.56 and a 200 day moving average of $182.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 25.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in KLA by 978.2% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,164,000 after purchasing an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 781.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 359,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,397,000 after purchasing an additional 318,520 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $265,444,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 151.2% in 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 buying an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,676,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A broad semiconductor rally, driven by renewed AI enthusiasm, strong memory demand and anticipation of earnings from chipmakers, may improve expectations for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment. Semiconductor Rally Powers S&P 500 to Fresh Record High
• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s latest quarterly results beat expectations: revenue rose 15.2% year over year to approximately $3.66 billion and earnings exceeded consensus. Management provided quarterly EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26, supporting the company’s growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a reported consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target above the recent trading range. Recent upgrades and higher targets reflect confidence in KLA’s exposure to advanced chips and AI-related manufacturing.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high options activity indicates increased trader interest in KLA, but the flow alone does not establish a reliable bullish or bearish direction.
• Negative Sentiment: DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale cut its KLA position by about 2.86 million shares, or roughly 90%, according to a June 30 13F filing. Large institutional reductions can pressure sentiment, although 13F data is delayed and may contain reporting or parsing inaccuracies. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Fund Update
• Negative Sentiment: KLA’s valuation remains demanding, with a price-to-earnings ratio above 50. Coverage questioning whether the stock is fully valued raises the risk of further volatility if semiconductor spending or AI investment slows. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its Huge Run
• Negative Sentiment: Two executives sold shares totaling approximately $1.1 million. The transactions were made to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards, reducing their negative significance, but they add to a broader pattern of insider selling with no reported purchases in the past six months.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, July 20th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.70.

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.