VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Takes $124.03 Million Position in KLA Corporation $KLAC

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 411,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,033,000. KLA comprises approximately 0.7% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $185.60 on Monday. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $87.83 and a 1-year high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $205.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.50 billion, a PE ratio of 50.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’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, research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s payout ratio is 25.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Susquehanna set a $215.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $140.00 to $186.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.22.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $15,225,605.10. The trade was a 21.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the completion of 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470 over the last three months. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Profile

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.