Boston Partners Trims Stock Position in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Boston Partners has reduced its stake in KLA Corporation by 0.5%, owning approximately 90,956 shares valued at $61,805,000 after selling 415 shares.
• KLA's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $9.38, exceeding expectations, with revenue reaching $3.17 billion, up 23.6% from the previous year.
• The company announced a $1.90 quarterly dividend set to be paid on September 3rd, with a dividend yield of 0.8%.

Boston Partners cut its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,956 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 415 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.07% of KLA worth $61,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,317 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,090,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $235,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $945,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $2.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $878.44. The stock had a trading volume of 978,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,075,947. The company has a market capitalization of $115.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $904.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $783.62. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $959.26.

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

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $7,354,210.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,488,132.72. This represents a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $9,868,657.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,818 shares in the company, valued at $84,805,950.24. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,908 shares of company stock worth $18,038,659 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. Wall Street Zen downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $950.00 price objective (up from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.

KLA 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.