Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 7,337 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Key Points

• Versant Capital Management increased its KLA stake by 709.6% in the second quarter, purchasing 7,337 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 8,371 shares valued at approximately $2.53 million.
• KLA reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion and EPS of $1.05 surpassing estimates. Management guided to quarterly EPS of $1.06–$1.26, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus.
• Despite favorable semiconductor-industry momentum, valuation and insider selling remain risks: KLA trades at a P/E above 50, while executives sold roughly $3.58 million in shares in recent transactions and insiders have sold $34.25 million over the past 90 days.

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 709.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,371 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,337 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings in KLA were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $77,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A broad semiconductor rally, fueled by renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence, strong memory demand and upcoming chip-industry earnings, supports the outlook for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment. Semiconductor Rally Powers S&P 500 to Fresh Record High
• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: revenue rose 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion, while EPS of $1.05 topped the $1.00 consensus estimate. Management also issued quarterly EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26, offering support for the company’s growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually high options activity, including elevated call volume, indicates that some traders are positioning for a rebound after the stock’s recent retreat. Options activity is a sentiment signal rather than a fundamental catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable, with a reported “Moderate Buy” consensus and several price targets above recent trading levels. However, KLA’s valuation is demanding, with a price-to-earnings ratio above 50, leaving the stock vulnerable to disappointment if semiconductor capital spending slows. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its Huge Run
• Negative Sentiment: CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares for approximately $881,000, while EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares worth about $2.70 million. These transactions reduced their holdings by roughly 36% and 38%, respectively, adding to a recent pattern of insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: DekaBank disclosed a roughly 90% reduction in its KLA position, equivalent to approximately 2.86 million shares valued near $862 million at the reporting date. Although the 13F reflects holdings as of June 30 rather than current trading, the disclosure may reinforce concerns about institutional profit-taking.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group set a $240.00 target price on KLA and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $200.00 price target on KLA in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.70.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $2,698,291.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,322,505. The trade was a 38.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,499 shares of company stock worth $34,248,710. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $192.85 on Thursday. 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 $251.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.69. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.22 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37.

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

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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