Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Buys 36,830 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Ascent Wealth Partners initiated a KLA position by purchasing 36,830 shares valued at approximately $7.18 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally favorable outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.26, despite several neutral ratings.
• KLA exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.05 EPS and $3.66 billion in revenue, while maintaining a $0.23 quarterly dividend and projecting $0.92 in annualized payouts.

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 36,830 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $7,179,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in KLA by 6.8% during the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 1,783 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,625,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 822 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,211,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $2,698,291.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,322,505. This trade represents a 38.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 7,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454. 79.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $227.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna set a $215.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $221.26.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $145.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $190.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $182.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.95. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $107.20 and a one year 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.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The business's 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

KLA Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.