Guinness Asset Management LTD Increases Stake in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in KLA Corporation by 5.3%, resulting in ownership of 59,738 shares valued at approximately $40.6 million at the end of the 1st quarter.
• KLA's CEO and EVP sold shares on August 12th, resulting in a 10.42% decrease in the CEO's position and a 41.22% decrease in the EVP's position, totaling around $29.3 million in insider sales over the last quarter.
• Analysts project KLA will post an average earnings per share of 31.59 for the current fiscal year, with a consensus target price of $890.59 following recent ratings from various financial institutions.

Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,738 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 2,994 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD's holdings in KLA were worth $40,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in KLA by 4,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 owned 92,818 shares in the company, valued at $84,805,950.24. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $7,354,210.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This represents a 41.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,605 shares of company stock worth $29,348,291 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $950.00 price objective (up from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $890.59.

KLA Trading Up 2.9%

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $959.28 on Friday. 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's fifty day moving average price is $904.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $798.36. The company has a market capitalization of $126.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.48. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $963.89.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. KLA had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 112.41%. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.60 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

KLA Company 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.

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