Saudi Central Bank Buys 86,904 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Saudi Central Bank increased its KLA position by 1,791.8% in the second quarter, purchasing 86,904 additional shares for a total stake worth approximately $27.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of KLA.
• KLA exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.05 in earnings per share and $3.66 billion in revenue, with year-over-year revenue growth of 15.2%. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $222.22.
• KLA maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.23, or $0.92 annually, yielding about 0.5%. Meanwhile, insiders sold approximately 258,533 shares worth $56.0 million over the past three months, including substantial sales by the CEO.

Saudi Central Bank grew its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 1,791.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 91,754 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 86,904 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank's holdings in KLA were worth $27,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in KLA by 928.9% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,471,832,000 after acquiring an additional 13,381,153 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,522,430,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 987.0% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $295,486,000 after purchasing an additional 889,269 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 960.4% in the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $279,580,000 after purchasing an additional 839,265 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of KLA by 978.2% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $259,164,000 after purchasing an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $215.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.22.

KLA Trading Up 7.3%

Shares of KLA stock opened at $185.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.50 billion, a PE ratio of 50.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $87.83 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $205.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 778,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,970,908.80. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

About KLA

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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