7,901 Shares in KLA Corporation $KLAC Purchased by Brown Shipley& Co Ltd

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd bought a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 7,901 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,540,000. KLA accounts for approximately 0.8% of Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in KLA by 928.9% in 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 buying an additional 13,381,153 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth $2,522,430,000. National Pension Service raised its position in KLA by 899.4% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,096,673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271,158 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 987.0% during the second quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,486,000 after acquiring an additional 889,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its holdings in KLA by 960.4% during the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $279,580,000 after purchasing an additional 839,265 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $2,698,291.00. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.26.

KLA Stock Down 0.4%

KLAC traded down $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $195.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,041,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,059,316. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $98.10 and a one year high of $307.37. The company has a market capitalization of $255.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.45. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $187.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management solutions used by semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect defects, measure and analyze materials and structures, and monitor manufacturing processes throughout the production of integrated circuits and other advanced electronic components.

The company’s product portfolio includes inspection and metrology systems, wafer and reticle inspection equipment, process-control software, data analytics tools, and related services.