KLA Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• KLA saw unusually heavy options activity on Tuesday, with 7,243 call options traded versus a typical volume of 4,574, a jump of about 58%.
• The stock also rose sharply, hitting $304.76, near its 52-week high, amid positive sentiment around semiconductor demand and broader chip-sector strength.
• Analysts remain constructive overall, and KLA is supported by strong earnings, a $7 billion buyback authorization, and continued bullish price targets from several firms.

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 7,243 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 58% compared to the typical volume of 4,574 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 713,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on KLAC shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $325.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut KLA from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.34.

KLA News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s latest update signaled that 2026 wafer fab equipment demand could exceed prior expectations, especially for leading-edge logic, memory, and advanced packaging. This has reinforced the bull case for continued growth. Why KLA shares rose today
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s recently announced incremental $7 billion share buyback authorization is helping sentiment by highlighting strong cash generation and a shareholder-friendly capital return policy. Why KLA shares rose today
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with multiple firms recently reiterating buy or overweight ratings and several price targets raised for KLA and the broader chip-equipment group. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual options activity showed a jump in call buying, which may reflect traders positioning for further upside, but it does not by itself confirm a fundamental change.
• Neutral Sentiment: KLAC has also been benefiting from broader strength in semiconductor stocks, suggesting some of today’s move is part of an industry-wide catch-up rally.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $26.37 on Tuesday, hitting $304.76. 9,709,595 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,250,996. The firm has a market cap of $398.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.33, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.50. KLA has a 52 week low of $83.22 and a 52 week high of $304.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 2.11.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $8.48. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.06%.

KLA Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.