Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 9,072 KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Kirtland Hills Capital Management initiated a KLA position by purchasing 9,072 shares worth approximately $2.74 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of the semiconductor equipment maker.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $223.70; several firms recently raised or set targets between $200 and $245.
• KLA exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.05 in EPS and $3.66 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 15.2% year over year. The company maintained its $0.23 quarterly dividend, although insiders have sold roughly $56 million of stock over the past three months.

Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,072 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $2,737,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in KLA by 900.0% in the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotiabank set a $200.00 price objective on KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 target price on KLA and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.70.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $183.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.39 billion, a PE ratio of 50.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $220.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.01. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.22 and a 52-week high of $307.37.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA's payout ratio is presently 25.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total transaction of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $154,970,908.80. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About KLA

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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