Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Decreases Stock Position in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB has cut its stake in KLA Corporation by 14.4%, selling 7,437 shares and reducing ownership to 44,341 shares worth approximately $30 million.
• Several large investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Goldman Sachs, have significantly increased their stakes in KLA during the 1st quarter, reflecting strong institutional interest in the semiconductor company.
• KLA reported strong earnings of $9.38 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.90, indicating continued financial strength.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,341 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 7,437 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in KLA were worth $30,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. IFC Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 4.6% during the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of KLA by 1.3% during the first quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. increased its position in KLA by 3.8% in the first quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in KLA by 3.3% in the first quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its position in KLA by 4.7% in the first quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 381 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at $10,488,132.72. The trade was a 41.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,889 shares of company stock worth $17,257,637 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $27.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $844.82. 846,997 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,140,714. The firm has a market cap of $111.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.48. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $959.26. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $905.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $791.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.60 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $770.00 to $922.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays raised their target price on KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.