KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Bought by Keeler Thomas Management LLC

Key Points

• Keeler Thomas Management LLC increased its KLA position by 1,000% in the second quarter, adding 7,300 shares for a total holding of 8,030 shares valued at approximately $2.42 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of KLA.
• KLA reported quarterly EPS of $1.05, beating estimates of $1.00, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $223.70.
• Insiders sold 258,533 shares worth approximately $56.0 million over the past three months, including sizable sales by two executives. KLA also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, equivalent to a 0.5% yield.

Keeler Thomas Management LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 1,000.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,030 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Keeler Thomas Management LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $2,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Motco boosted its stake in KLA by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 405 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Bank Corp grew its holdings in KLA by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 111 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 796 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $967,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $175.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $229.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.85, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $83.22 and a 12-month high of $307.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $211.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $253.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.70.

KLA Company 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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