KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in KLA Corporation by 15.8%, selling 15,856 shares and owning 84,798 shares post-sale, valued at approximately $57.6 million.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their holdings in KLA, with significant raises from Tema Etfs LLC (142.4%), Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (35.6%), and Ieq Capital LLC (119.5%) during the same quarter.
• KLA recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.90 per share to be paid on September 3rd, with an annual yield of 0.9% and a payout ratio of 25.01%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,798 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 15,856 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.06% of KLA worth $57,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in KLA by 95,141.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,672,589 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the first quarter valued at approximately $348,822,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in KLA by 27.9% in 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in KLA by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,191,262 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $750,638,000 after purchasing an additional 300,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in KLA by 421.8% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 325,411 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $205,048,000 after purchasing an additional 263,051 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $950.00 target price (up from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of KLA from $1,035.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $2.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $843.90. 933,631 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,142,143. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $903.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $791.85. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $959.26. The firm has a market cap of $111.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.48.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned $6.60 earnings per share. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total value of $12,090,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,128,418. This trade represents a 33.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This trade represents a 41.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,605 shares of company stock worth $29,348,291 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.