CSM Advisors LLC Invests $200,000 in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• CSM Advisors LLC recently acquired a new position in KLA Corporation, purchasing 296 shares valued at approximately $200,000. This trend reflects significant interest from institutional investors in the semiconductor sector.
• KLA's recent earnings report showed a 23.6% revenue increase compared to the previous year, with earnings per share of $9.38 exceeding analyst expectations.
• The company plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.90 per share on September 3rd, 2023, highlighting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 296 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFC Advisors LLC increased its stake in KLA by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.3% in the first quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $808,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 3.8% during the first quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 3.3% during the first quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.7% during the first quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 381 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC traded up $5.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $894.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 964,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,024,690. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $117.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.44. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $959.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $904.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $789.03.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.60 EPS. The firm'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, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $84,805,950.24. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,889 shares of company stock worth $17,257,637 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $950.00 target price (up previously from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $920.00 price target (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $922.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $890.59.

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.