CoreCap Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• CoreCap Advisors increased its KLA stake by 839.9% in the second quarter, purchasing 23,180 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 25,940 shares valued at approximately $7.8 million.
• KLA exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.05 in EPS and $3.66 billion in revenue, up 15.2% year over year; it issued next-quarter EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26 and declared a $0.23-per-share dividend.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, but KLA’s elevated valuation, with a P/E ratio above 50, and continued insider selling could create downside risks despite favorable semiconductor and AI-driven demand trends.

CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 839.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,940 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 23,180 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $7,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position 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 during the period. Motco raised its holdings in KLA by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 405 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. SouthState Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 111 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 305 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total transaction of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,499 shares of company stock valued at $34,248,710. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share, payable in September. The dividend reinforces shareholder returns and signals continued confidence in the company’s cash generation. KLA Declares Regular Cash Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: KLA recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.05 in EPS versus the $1.00 consensus and revenue of $3.66 billion, up 15.2% year over year. Guidance for the next quarter of $1.06 to $1.26 per share supports the growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: A broader semiconductor rally driven by artificial-intelligence optimism, strong memory demand and expectations for chip-industry earnings is favorable for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment demand. Semiconductor Rally Powers S&P 500 to Fresh Record High
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a reported “Moderate Buy” consensus and several price targets above recent levels. However, KLA trades at a price-to-earnings ratio above 50, making the shares sensitive to any slowdown in semiconductor capital spending. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its Huge Run
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares for approximately $881,000, while EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares worth about $2.70 million. The sales reduced their holdings by roughly 36% and 38%, respectively, adding to a pattern of insider selling, although some transactions were related to equity-award tax obligations.
• Negative Sentiment: DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reported cutting its KLA position by approximately 2.86 million shares, or 90%, as of June 30. Because the disclosure is delayed, it is not necessarily a current trading signal, but it may reinforce concerns about institutional profit-taking and KLA’s elevated valuation.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. New Street Research increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $146.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 target price on KLA and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.70.

KLA Stock Up 0.2%

KLAC stock opened at $193.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $252.40 billion, a PE ratio of 52.69, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $223.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.95. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $83.22 and a one year high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

About KLA

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA's offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.

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