KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Purchased by Fred Alger Management LLC

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC has increased its stake in KLA Corporation by 7.3%, bringing its total holdings to worth approximately $22.8 million.
• KLA recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $9.38 EPS, significantly above analyst estimates of $8.53, with revenue rising by 23.6% year-over-year.
• The semiconductor company's stock has seen substantial interest from institutional investors, with holdings now comprising 86.65% of its ownership.

Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,608 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $22,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in KLA by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,365 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. IFC Advisors LLC grew its stake in KLA by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors grew its stake in KLA by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in KLA by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in KLA by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $922.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $890.59.

KLA Trading Up 1.6%

KLAC traded up $14.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $932.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 712,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,297. 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 firm has a market cap of $123.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $904.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $796.83. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $959.26.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.60 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. KLA's payout ratio is currently 25.01%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total value of $12,090,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,372 shares in the company, valued at $24,128,418. This represents a 33.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,605 shares of company stock valued at $29,348,291. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.