KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Acquired by California State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• Institutional ownership increased sharply: California State Teachers Retirement System reported acquiring nearly 599 million KLA shares, while other major institutions also expanded their positions. Institutional investors now own 86.65% of the stock.
• KLA delivered better-than-expected quarterly results: The semiconductor equipment maker reported $1.05 in EPS and $3.66 billion in revenue, exceeding estimates, with revenue up 15.2% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, though insiders have been selling: KLA has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $222.22 target price, while insiders sold $55.98 million worth of shares over the past three months.

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 298,176.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 599,111,883 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 598,911,025 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 45.85% of KLA worth $180,758,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in KLA by 928.9% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,471,832,000 after acquiring an additional 13,381,153 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,522,430,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 987.0% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $295,486,000 after purchasing an additional 889,269 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its position in KLA by 960.4% in the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $279,580,000 after purchasing an additional 839,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of KLA by 978.2% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $259,164,000 after purchasing an additional 779,317 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 778,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,970,908.80. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470 in the last three months. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $185.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $242.50 billion, a PE ratio of 50.61, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $205.50 and a 200 day moving average of $188.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $87.83 and a one year high of $307.37.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA's dividend payout ratio is 25.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $253.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.22.

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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