Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 17,110 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 181% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,081 put options.

KLA Stock Down 4.0%

KLAC stock traded down $9.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $222.25. 9,932,170 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,571,163. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.03. The firm has a market cap of $290.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.69. KLA has a 1-year low of $83.22 and a 1-year high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $8.48. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 26.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 132,333 shares of company stock valued at $29,547,170. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 6.8% during the 1st 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 fourth quarter. Motco now owns 405 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 17.1% in the fourth 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. SouthState Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of KLA by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $371,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citic Securities upped their target price on shares of KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on KLA from $140.00 to $186.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on KLA from $200.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on KLA from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.80.

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.