Insider Selling: KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Sells 10,801 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CEO Richard P. Wallace of KLA Corporation sold 10,801 shares of stock at an average price of $913.68, resulting in a total transaction of approximately $9.87 million and a 10.42% decrease in his ownership.
• KLA reported earnings of $9.38 per share for the quarter ending July 31, exceeding expectations and showing a 23.6% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.90 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.8%, and a share repurchase program authorizing the buyback of up to $5 billion in shares.

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $9,868,657.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $84,805,950.24. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

KLA Trading Up 0.0%

KLAC traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $883.50. The stock had a trading volume of 114,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,154,442. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $903.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $782.31. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $959.26.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. KLA had a return on equity of 112.41% and a net margin of 33.41%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.60 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of KLA by 4,100.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on KLA from $770.00 to $922.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.