102,807 Shares in KLA Corporation $KLAC Purchased by Generate Investment Management Ltd

Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 102,807 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,040,000. KLA accounts for approximately 0.8% of Generate Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Formuepleje A S boosted its position in KLA by 1,125.5% during the second quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 30,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,070,000 after acquiring an additional 27,609 shares during the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its stake in KLA by 829.7% during the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 6,654 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 1,195.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,510,000 after acquiring an additional 13,794 shares during the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $20,763,000. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 28,728 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,600,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $4.72 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $179.28. 4,496,825 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,021,456. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.91, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $105.39 and a twelve month 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 target price on KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price target on KLA and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered KLA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.26.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total value of $12,378,625.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

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.