NEOS Investment Management LLC Acquires 889,269 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• NEOS Investment Management significantly increased its KLA stake by 889,269 shares, bringing its holdings to 979,371 shares valued at approximately $295.5 million. Institutional investors own 86.65% of KLA.
• KLA reported quarterly earnings of $1.05 per share and revenue of $3.66 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year. The company also maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.23 per share.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $222.22, although several firms recently lowered their targets. Meanwhile, KLA insiders sold roughly $56 million of stock during the last quarter.

NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 987.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 889,269 shares during the period. KLA accounts for 1.1% of NEOS Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. NEOS Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of KLA worth $295,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 900.0% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $172.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm has a market cap of $225.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.90 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $253.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $140.00 to $186.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bren Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA 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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