KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock Holdings Lifted by DMC Group LLC

Key Points

• DMC Group increased its KLA position by 887.3% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 8,560 shares valued at approximately $2.58 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 1 Strong Buy, 19 Buy, and 9 Hold ratings and an average price target of $222.22. Recent targets range from $195 to $260.
• KLA exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.05 in EPS and $3.66 billion in revenue, with revenue up 15.2% year over year. However, company insiders sold roughly 258,533 shares worth $56 million over the past 90 days.

DMC Group LLC increased its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 887.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,560 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,693 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for about 1.8% of DMC Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. DMC Group LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $2,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.22.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,001,875.68. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470 in the last ninety days. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $185.60 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $205.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.93. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $87.83 and a 1 year high of $307.37. The stock has a market cap of $242.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.61, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. Analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

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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