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

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 10,731 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 514% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,748 put options.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded down $207.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,477.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,064,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,169,343. The company has a market cap of $194.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.62, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,319.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,121.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.69. KLA has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $1,693.35.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.20 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total transaction of $12,997,089.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares in the company, valued at $97,704,954.10. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 125.0% in the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA beat Q2 expectations — non?GAAP EPS $8.85 vs. ~$8.75 estimate and revenue $3.30B vs. ~$3.25B; company reported strong margins, healthy free cash flow and continued capital returns, supporting the longer?term growth thesis. KLA Corp beats quarterly results estimates on strong chipmaking tool demand (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish overall — several firms raised price targets or reaffirmed buys (Needham, Berenberg, RBC among them), leaving upside to many street targets despite today’s weakness. Berenberg lifts price target on KLA (MarketScreener)
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA sees advanced?packaging revenue rising mid? to high?teens in 2026 as AI demand boosts process?control — a positive secular signal but more medium?term in impact. KLA sees advanced packaging revenue rising mid- to high-teens in 2026 (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA issued Q3 FY26 guidance with a wide EPS range (about $8.30–$9.86) and revenue range ($3.2B–$3.5B) — the EPS midpoint is slightly below consensus, creating uncertainty until the next quarter’s demand picture clears. Q2 earnings call highlights (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction focused on WFE (wafer?fab equipment) outlook concerns and mixed commentary from the call — headlines highlight a selloff despite the beat, pressuring the stock. KLA falls amid WFE outlook concerns (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Large bearish activity and selling signals today: unusually heavy put buying (10,731 puts, ~514% above typical volume) and intraday data showing a sharp drop and notable insider selling flagged by data providers — these amplify downside pressure. $KLAC stock is down 8% today (Quiver Quantitative)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,750.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,751.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of KLA from $1,500.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,565.21.

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.