KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Down 3.2% – Here’s Why

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) fell 3.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $179.84 and last traded at $184.00. Approximately 9,961,499 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 10% from the average session volume of 11,054,104 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded KLA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.26.

KLA Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $187.68 and its 200-day moving average is $196.64. The firm has a market cap of $227.67 billion, a PE ratio of 47.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.45. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in KLA by 928.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,471,832,000 after acquiring an additional 13,381,153 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,522,430,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 239.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,614,990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,094,530,000 after buying an additional 3,959,927 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in KLA by 899.4% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,096,673,000 after buying an additional 3,271,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 987.0% in the second quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,486,000 after acquiring an additional 889,269 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management solutions used by semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect defects, measure and analyze materials and structures, and monitor manufacturing processes throughout the production of integrated circuits and other advanced electronic components.

The company’s product portfolio includes inspection and metrology systems, wafer and reticle inspection equipment, process-control software, data analytics tools, and related services.