KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Bought by Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC

Key Points

• Silverleafe Capital Partners increased its KLA stake by 1,154.7% in the second quarter, ending with 7,641 shares valued at approximately $2.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of KLA.
• KLA reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue up 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion and EPS of $1.05 versus the $1.00 consensus estimate. Management issued quarterly EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $223.70, but KLA’s valuation is elevated at roughly 52.6 times earnings. Recent insider and institutional selling—including a major reduction by DekaBank—adds a potential cautionary signal.

Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 1,154.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,641 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,032 shares during the period. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $2,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in KLA by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in KLA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $117,676,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $119,618,000. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $3,128,000. Finally, KTF Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $863,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

More KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A broad semiconductor rally, fueled by renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence, strong memory demand and upcoming chip-industry earnings, supports the outlook for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment. Semiconductor Rally Powers S&P 500 to Fresh Record High
• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: revenue rose 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion, while EPS of $1.05 topped the $1.00 consensus estimate. Management also issued quarterly EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26, offering support for the company’s growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually high options activity, including elevated call volume, indicates that some traders are positioning for a rebound after the stock’s recent retreat. Options activity is a sentiment signal rather than a fundamental catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable, with a reported “Moderate Buy” consensus and several price targets above recent trading levels. However, KLA’s valuation is demanding, with a price-to-earnings ratio above 50, leaving the stock vulnerable to disappointment if semiconductor capital spending slows. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its Huge Run
• Negative Sentiment: CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares for approximately $881,000, while EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares worth about $2.70 million. These transactions reduced their holdings by roughly 36% and 38%, respectively, adding to a recent pattern of insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: DekaBank disclosed a roughly 90% reduction in its KLA position, equivalent to approximately 2.86 million shares valued near $862 million at the reporting date. Although the 13F reflects holdings as of June 30 rather than current trading, the disclosure may reinforce concerns about institutional profit-taking.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. New Street Research increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $146.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank set a $200.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on KLA from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 target price on KLA and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 directly 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 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 KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at $70,001,875.68. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,499 shares of company stock worth $34,248,710. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $192.85 on Thursday. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $83.22 and a twelve month high of $307.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.69. The company has a market capitalization of $251.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.59, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The business'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, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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