Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Purchases Shares of 299 KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Beck Mack & Oliver LLC has acquired 299 shares of KLA Corporation valued at approximately $203,000 during the 1st quarter of 2023, according to a recent SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in KLA, including GAMMA Investing LLC, which boosted its stake by 95,141.6%, now owning over $1.1 billion in shares.
• KLA Corporation reported a 9.38 EPS for the last quarter, beating expectations, and plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.90 on September 3rd.

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 299 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. AXA S.A. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 85,871 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $54,109,000 after acquiring an additional 17,421 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in KLA by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 867 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in KLA by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,139,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares in the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,894,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,499 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total transaction of $12,090,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,128,418. This trade represents a 33.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,605 shares of company stock worth $29,348,291 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.

KLA Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $29.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $873.29. 813,369 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,140,187. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $902.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $792.70. The stock has a market cap of $115.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.48. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $959.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.01%.

About KLA

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.