KLA Corporation $KLAC Holdings Lifted by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 931.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,063 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,405 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $14,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $153,973,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in KLA by 773.2% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,178 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 4,585 shares during the last quarter. Range Advisory LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 1,222.6% during the second quarter. Range Advisory LLC now owns 5,621 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 1,900.0% during the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 520 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $201,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of KLAC traded up $3.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $188.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,400,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,358,996. The company has a 50 day moving average of $203.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.20. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $91.02 and a 1-year high of $307.37. The firm has a market cap of $246.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 778,944 shares in the company, valued at $154,970,908.80. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470 over the last quarter. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on KLAC. Bank of America upped their price target on KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on KLA from $140.00 to $186.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.22.

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.