Virendra Kirloskar Sells 4,504 Shares of KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

KLA Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $193.22 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.22 and a 52-week high of $307.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $252.40 billion, a PE ratio of 52.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $223.51 and its 200 day moving average is $182.95.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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 anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,522,430,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in KLA by 978.2% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,164,000 after buying an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in KLA by 781.5% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 359,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,397,000 after buying an additional 318,520 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 0.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $265,444,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in KLA by 151.2% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $171,230,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share, payable in September. The dividend reinforces shareholder returns and signals continued confidence in the company’s cash generation. KLA Declares Regular Cash Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: KLA recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.05 in EPS versus the $1.00 consensus and revenue of $3.66 billion, up 15.2% year over year. Guidance for the next quarter of $1.06 to $1.26 per share supports the growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: A broader semiconductor rally driven by artificial-intelligence optimism, strong memory demand and expectations for chip-industry earnings is favorable for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment demand. Semiconductor Rally Powers S&P 500 to Fresh Record High
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a reported “Moderate Buy” consensus and several price targets above recent levels. However, KLA trades at a price-to-earnings ratio above 50, making the shares sensitive to any slowdown in semiconductor capital spending. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its Huge Run
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares for approximately $881,000, while EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares worth about $2.70 million. The sales reduced their holdings by roughly 36% and 38%, respectively, adding to a pattern of insider selling, although some transactions were related to equity-award tax obligations.
• Negative Sentiment: DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reported cutting its KLA position by approximately 2.86 million shares, or 90%, as of June 30. Because the disclosure is delayed, it is not necessarily a current trading signal, but it may reinforce concerns about institutional profit-taking and KLA’s elevated valuation.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, New Street Research increased their target price on shares of KLA from $146.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.70.

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.