KLA Corporation $KLAC Position Trimmed by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD sold 12,213 shares of KLA Corporation, reducing its ownership to 1,652,461 shares, which are valued at approximately $1.12 billion.
• Several institutional investors made significant changes in their positions during the first quarter, with Candriam S.C.A. increasing its stake by 29.6%.
• KLA Corporation reported earnings of $9.38 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and indicating a 23.6% year-over-year revenue growth.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,652,461 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 12,213 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.25% of KLA worth $1,123,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth about $402,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,674,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,479,000. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 138,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $93,624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock traded down $2.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $870.28. 946,136 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,080,477. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $959.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $114.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $904.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $785.72.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 EPS 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 net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 112.41%. KLA's revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.60 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total transaction of $7,354,210.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,488,132.72. This trade represents a 41.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,616 shares in the company, valued at $2,332,164. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,889 shares of company stock valued at $17,257,637. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $916.00 to $928.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on 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.