Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 1,371 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 42.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,567 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $3,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 40.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,674,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. bought a new stake in KLA during the first quarter worth $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $93,624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $922.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded up $2.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $878.44. 978,414 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,075,947. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $959.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $904.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $783.62.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.85. KLA had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 112.41%. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.60 earnings per share. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. KLA's payout ratio is presently 25.01%.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $9,868,657.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,805,950.24. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This trade represents a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,908 shares of company stock worth $18,038,659. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.