KLA Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Key Points

• KLA saw unusually heavy options activity, with investors purchasing 13,127 call options—48% above the average volume of 8,843 contracts.
• KLA reported quarterly EPS of $1.05 and revenue of $3.66 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue increased 15.2% year over year.
• The stock fell 1.6% to $179.86, despite a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average analyst price target of $223.70; insiders have sold $29.5 million of shares over the past 90 days.

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 13,127 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 48% compared to the average volume of 8,843 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,225,605.10. This trade represents a 21.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 132,333 shares of company stock worth $29,547,170 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in KLA by 6.8% in the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Motco lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 405 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Bank Corp grew its position in shares of KLA by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 111 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 305 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $2.96 on Monday, hitting $179.86. 4,792,060 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,633,264. KLA has a 12 month low of $83.22 and a 12 month high of $307.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.45. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $223.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.78. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Analysts anticipate that KLA will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of KLA from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.70.

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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