Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 538 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in KLA Corporation by 6.8%, owning 8,499 shares valued at $5,778,000 as of the end of the first quarter.
• KLA reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $9.38, exceeding expectations, and a revenue of $3.17 billion, which is up 23.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a $1.90 quarterly dividend to be paid on September 3, with a yield of 0.9% and a recent stock repurchase plan authorizing $5 billion for share buybacks.

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,499 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 538 shares during the quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $5,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 95,141.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter valued at about $348,822,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 27.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 33.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $187,212,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $890.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at $10,488,132.72. This trade represents a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,908 shares of company stock worth $18,038,659. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded down $0.7180 on Wednesday, reaching $875.3620. The stock had a trading volume of 507,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,155,974. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $903.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $782.96. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $959.26. The company has a market cap of $115.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.44.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.41% and a net margin of 33.41%.KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.60 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.