Cullinan Associates Inc. Grows Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 729.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,452 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for 1.4% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $17,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of KLA by 928.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,471,832,000 after purchasing an additional 13,381,153 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,522,430,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $163,950,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in KLA by 781.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 359,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,397,000 after buying an additional 318,520 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s AI exposure remains a long-term support. Its process-control tools are viewed as important to improving yields in advanced packaging and increasingly complex semiconductor manufacturing. What KLA’s AI-Fueled Advanced Packaging Momentum Means For Shareholders
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results exceeded expectations: revenue reached $3.66 billion, up 15.2% year over year, while EPS topped consensus. Management’s next-quarter EPS guidance of $1.06–$1.26 also points to continued growth. Analysts cited by Zacks see meaningful potential upside, although price targets are not a guarantee. Wall Street Analysts Think KLA Could Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary remains constructive on KLA’s role as a potential “yield bottleneck” beneficiary of AI chip production and advanced manufacturing investment. KLA: The AI Yield Bottleneck Is Becoming More Valuable
• Neutral Sentiment: There was no clear new company-specific catalyst. The move instead reflects broader weakness across chip-equipment names, including declines in major semiconductor stocks that weighed on the Nasdaq-100 ETF and KLAC.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may have considered KLA’s strong earnings insufficient relative to elevated expectations; the stock sold off after its late-July report despite beating estimates. Comparisons with faster-growing semiconductor names also weakened its near-term appeal. KLAC vs. SNDK: Which Semiconductor Stock is a Better Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider activity is a headwind: KLA insiders reported open-market sales but no purchases over the past six months, including sales by senior executives. Investors also remain wary that export restrictions or weaker China demand could pressure sales and services.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna set a $215.00 target price on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.70.

KLA Stock Down 4.5%

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $175.54 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $229.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $83.22 and a one year high of $307.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $213.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.58.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 25.07%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470. 91.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Company 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.