Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Purchases 13,385 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Harbor Investment Advisory increased its KLA stake by 966.4% in the second quarter, purchasing 13,385 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 14,770 shares valued at approximately $4.46 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of KLA.
• KLA reported quarterly EPS of $1.05, surpassing the $1.00 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion. The company also declared a $0.23-per-share quarterly dividend and provided next-quarter EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $223.70, but KLA’s valuation is elevated at roughly 52.7 times earnings. Recent insider selling and a reported 90% reduction in holdings by DekaBank highlight potential profit-taking risks.

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 966.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,770 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,385 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $4,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $119,618,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in KLA by 151.2% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $171,230,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $32,812,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in KLA by 839.9% in the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 25,940 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $7,826,000 after purchasing an additional 23,180 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of KLA by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 91,413 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $111,910,000 after purchasing an additional 21,850 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA News Roundup

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 Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $240.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.70.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $193.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $252.40 billion, a PE ratio of 52.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.22 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $223.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.95.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,225,605.10. This represents a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 156,499 shares of company stock valued at $34,248,710 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

KLA Profile

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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