B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 695.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,048 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 109,337 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in KLA were worth $37,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
KLA Trading Up 0.8%
Shares of KLAC opened at $172.26 on Thursday. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $83.22 and a one year high of $307.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $208.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.46. 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 company has a market capitalization of $225.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.45.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.
KLA Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. KLA's payout ratio is presently 25.07%.
Insider Transactions at KLA
In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total transaction of $7,359,878.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470 over the last ninety days. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research raised KLA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.22.
Get Our Latest Report on KLA
KLA Profile
(
Free Report)
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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