Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 327,713 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System increased its KLA holdings by 910.3%, buying 327,713 additional shares to own 363,713 shares valued at approximately $109.7 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 86.65% of KLA’s stock.
• KLA exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.05 in earnings per share versus the $1.00 consensus and $3.66 billion in revenue, up 15.2% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $222.22.
• KLA shares recently traded at $188.98, while company insiders sold 258,533 shares worth about $56 million over the prior 90 days. The company also maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.23 per share, equivalent to a 0.5% yield.

Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 910.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 363,713 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 327,713 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up 0.5% of Arizona State Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in KLA were worth $109,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Formuepleje A S raised its holdings in KLA by 1,125.5% in the 2nd quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 30,062 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,070,000 after acquiring an additional 27,609 shares during the period. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 829.7% during the second quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,763,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,522,430,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of KLA by 978.2% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $259,164,000 after purchasing an additional 779,317 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $12,401,634.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock traded up $3.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $188.98. The stock had a trading volume of 12,400,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,358,996. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $91.02 and a 52 week high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA's dividend payout ratio is 25.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $200.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $222.22.

KLA 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.

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