Syon Capital LLC Buys 19,853 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Syon Capital increased its KLA stake by 916.6% in the second quarter, acquiring 19,853 additional shares for a total position worth approximately $6.64 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.65% of KLA.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.22. Recent targets range from $180 to $325.
• KLA exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.05 in EPS and $3.66 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year. However, company insiders sold 258,533 shares worth nearly $56 million over the past 90 days.

Syon Capital LLC grew its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 916.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,019 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,853 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $6,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its stake in KLA by 829.7% in the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 6,654 shares during the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the second quarter worth approximately $20,763,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth approximately $2,522,430,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 978.2% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $259,164,000 after acquiring an additional 779,317 shares during the period. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 600.7% in the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 31,561 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,522,000 after purchasing an additional 27,057 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $180.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $215.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the stock 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 issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,001,875.68. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,225,605.10. The trade was a 21.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470 over the last 90 days. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $172.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $206.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.65. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.90 and a 1 year high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue 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, research analysts expect 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 given a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.07%.

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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