Magnetar Financial LLC Buys New Position in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC made a new investment in KLA Corporation, acquiring 567 shares valued at approximately $385,000 during the first quarter.
• KLA reported a strong quarterly performance, with earnings per share of $9.38, surpassing estimates, and a net margin of 33.41%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.90 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $7.60 and a yield of 0.9%.

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 567 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter valued at $1,792,000. Tema Etfs LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 142.4% during the 1st quarter. Tema Etfs LLC now owns 2,102 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 122 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 7,416 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its position in shares of KLA by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 9,724 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $7,354,210.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This represents a 41.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total transaction of $34,768.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,332,164. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,605 shares of company stock worth $29,348,291 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $950.00 target price (up previously from $850.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $980.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $890.59.

KLA Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $31.80 during trading on Friday, hitting $905.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,155,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 887,379. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $959.26. 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 company has a market capitalization of $119.44 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $903.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $793.71.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors 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 yield of 0.8%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.01%.

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.