KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Up 7.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) shot up 7.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $183.71 and last traded at $185.4770. Approximately 1,561,018 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 11,280,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank set a $200.00 price target on KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.22.

KLA Trading Up 7.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $206.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced 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 company 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 firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares in the company, valued at $154,970,908.80. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 829.7% during the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654 shares in the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the second quarter worth $20,763,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in KLA during the second quarter worth $2,522,430,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in KLA by 978.2% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,164,000 after buying an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 600.7% in the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 31,561 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,522,000 after buying an additional 27,057 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.