Optimize Financial Inc. Has $6.27 Million Stake in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Optimize Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 896.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,768 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,684 shares during the period. KLA accounts for 2.2% of Optimize Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Optimize Financial Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Motco grew its holdings in KLA by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 405 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in KLA by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Bank Corp increased its position in KLA by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in KLA by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 796 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $967,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $185.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $242.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.61, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $87.83 and a 1-year high of $307.37.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $215.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,225,605.10. This trade represents a 21.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470 in the last three months. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

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.