Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Makes New Investment in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased 3,601 shares of KLA Corporation for approximately $2.45 million in the first quarter, as disclosed in its SEC filing.
• Recent insider activity revealed that Brian Lorig, EVP, sold 8,049 shares valued at over $7.35 million, decreasing his position by 41.22%.
• KLA Corporation reported a 23.6% year-over-year revenue increase for the quarter, achieving $3.17 billion, and its EPS exceeded expectations at $9.38.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,601 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $2,448,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,564,622 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,221,230,000 after acquiring an additional 80,154 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 27.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,852,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,259,543,000 after purchasing an additional 404,634 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in KLA by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,061,878,000 after buying an additional 204,330 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in KLA by 95,141.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,138,221,000 after buying an additional 1,672,589 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in KLA by 9.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,586,781 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,078,526,000 after buying an additional 131,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on KLA from $770.00 to $922.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $890.59.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded down $2.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $870.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 946,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,073,542. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $959.26. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $904.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $785.37. The company has a market cap of $114.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. KLA had a return on equity of 112.41% and a net margin of 33.41%.The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.60 EPS. KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. KLA's payout ratio is presently 25.01%.

KLA declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $9,868,657.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $84,805,950.24. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This represents a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,889 shares of company stock valued at $17,257,637 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.