11,333 KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Sold by Capstone Capital Management Ltd

Key Points

• Capstone Capital Management cut its KLA stake by 85.2% in the third quarter, selling 11,333 shares and retaining 1,969 shares valued at approximately $384,000. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of KLA.
• Analysts remain generally positive on KLA, with 19 Buy ratings and 10 Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $221.26.
• KLA reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with EPS of $1.05 and revenue of $3.66 billion, while quarterly revenue increased 15.2% year over year. The company pays an annualized dividend of $0.92 per share, yielding about 0.6%.

Capstone Capital Management Ltd decreased its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 85.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,969 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 11,333 shares during the period. Capstone Capital Management Ltd's holdings in KLA were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Formuepleje A S raised its stake in shares of KLA by 1,125.5% during the 2nd quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 30,062 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,070,000 after purchasing an additional 27,609 shares during the period. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 829.7% in the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 6,654 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in KLA by 1,195.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,510,000 after buying an additional 13,794 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in KLA by 7.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 275,745 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $53,751,000 after buying an additional 19,700 shares during the period. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in KLA by 40.1% during the third quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 28,728 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,600,000 after buying an additional 8,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of KLA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $227.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price objective on KLA and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.26.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $163.43 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $213.28 billion, a PE ratio of 44.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $107.20 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $184.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454. 79.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About KLA

KLA Corporation NASDAQ: KLAC develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company's product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.

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