Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management has reduced its holdings in KLA Corporation ($KLAC) by 5.4%, now owning around $69.6 million of the company's stock, which constitutes about 1.2% of their investment portfolio.
• Analysts remain generally positive on KLA, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. raising its price target significantly to $1,070 while a total of eight analysts have given the stock a Buy rating.
• KLA reported strong quarterly earnings, with an **EPS of **$9.38, surpassing analysts' expectations and marking a 23.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.17 billion.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,691 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 4,434 shares during the period. KLA comprises 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.06% of KLA worth $69,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,564,622 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,221,230,000 after acquiring an additional 80,154 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,852,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,259,543,000 after purchasing an additional 404,634 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 95,141.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,138,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,589 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,645,599 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,026,983,000 after purchasing an additional 251,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,586,781 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,078,526,000 after purchasing an additional 131,620 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Down 0.2%

KLAC traded down $1.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $1,044.81. 1,586,935 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 875,783. The stock has a market cap of $137.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.48. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $1,076.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $915.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $812.01.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 112.41% and a net margin of 33.41%.The business's revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.60 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. KLA's payout ratio is presently 25.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,801 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $9,868,657.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,818 shares in the company, valued at $84,805,950.24. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total transaction of $12,090,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,128,418. The trade was a 33.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,605 shares of company stock worth $29,348,291. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $950.00 target price (up from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $890.59.

About KLA

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.