Wedmont Private Capital Buys 18,193 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 936.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,136 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,193 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Kintra Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 810.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC now owns 4,143 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 3,688 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $387,000. Echo45 Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in KLA by 752.9% in the second quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Guardian Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter worth $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 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 value of $2,698,291.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,322,505. This represents a 38.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $185.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $242.50 billion, a PE ratio of 50.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $205.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.93. 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.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change 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 is currently 25.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report 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, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.22.

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.