KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard Wallace Sells 4,512 Shares

Key Points

• KLA CEO Richard Wallace sold 4,512 shares on June 11 at an average price of $2,213.37, totaling about $10.0 million. After the sale, he still held 71,383 shares worth roughly $158 million.
• The company recently delivered strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.94 beating estimates and revenue of $3.42 billion, up 11.5% year over year. KLA also issued Q4 2026 guidance and continues to draw support from analysts bullish on AI-driven chip equipment demand.
• KLA is returning capital to shareholders through a quarterly dividend and a newly approved $7 billion share repurchase program. The buyback authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.7% of its shares, signaling management confidence in the stock.

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) CEO Richard Wallace sold 4,512 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 71,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $2,411.64 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $832.24 and a 52-week high of $2,431.29. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $1,843.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,547.29. 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 company has a market cap of $315.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.02. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 37.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.0%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.04%.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that permits the company to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say the AI boom is improving the outlook for wafer-fabrication equipment demand, which is lifting shares of KLA and other chip-equipment names. Applied Materials, KLA stocks gain as AI boom lifts chip equipment outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reiterated an Overweight view on KLA, and multiple recent price-target hikes suggest Wall Street sees more upside after the company’s strong earnings and AI-focused guidance. Applied Materials and KLA Are Surging. Why You Should Buy the Stocks, Says This Analyst.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights KLA’s earnings beat, higher price targets, and continued demand for process-control tools as supportive catalysts for the stock. Why KLA Corporation Stock Edged Past the Broader Market Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles point to KLA’s upcoming 10-for-1 stock split, which may be drawing extra attention but does not change the company’s fundamentals. Dear KLA Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for June 12
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 4,512 shares in a disclosed insider transaction, which can slightly pressure sentiment even though the sale was small relative to his remaining holdings. Richard P. Wallace insider sale filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. Citic Securities raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $2,250.00 price objective (up from $1,700.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday. New Street Research raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $146.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Dbs Bank upgraded KLA from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on KLA from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $342.44.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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.

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