KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock: BDF Gestion Lowers Stake

BDF Gestion lessened its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,623 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,757 shares during the period. KLA makes up 0.8% of BDF Gestion’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. BDF Gestion’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in KLA by 928.9% during the 2nd 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 in the second quarter valued at about $2,522,430,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 239.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,614,990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,094,530,000 after buying an additional 3,959,927 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in KLA by 899.4% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,096,673,000 after buying an additional 3,271,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,418,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $471,419,000 after acquiring an additional 248,700 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,970,908.80. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $2,698,291.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,322,505. This trade represents a 38.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $3.80 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $169.54. 4,635,013 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,064,034. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.05. 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 52 week low of $107.20 and a 52 week 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. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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 5.43 EPS 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 issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is 25.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded KLA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price target on KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.26.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.