NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,093 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $1,423,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 95,141.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,674,347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,138,221,000 after buying an additional 1,672,589 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter valued at $348,822,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,852,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,259,543,000 after buying an additional 404,634 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,191,262 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $750,638,000 after buying an additional 300,015 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 421.8% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 325,411 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $205,048,000 after buying an additional 263,051 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $790.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Eight investment 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, KLA presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $890.59.
Get Our Latest Report on KLAC
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total transaction of $12,090,654.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,128,418. This represents a 33.38% 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, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,605 shares of company stock valued at $29,348,291. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
KLA Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $25.56 on Thursday, hitting $958.19. 489,625 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,129,845. The company's 50 day moving average price is $904.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $796.83. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $551.33 and a one year high of $963.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.48.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. KLA had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 112.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.60 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. Research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.
KLA Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.01%.
KLA Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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