Compass Financial Management LLC Makes New Investment in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,162 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,356,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,522,430,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in KLA by 978.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,164,000 after acquiring an additional 779,317 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in KLA by 781.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 359,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $108,397,000 after acquiring an additional 318,520 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $265,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in KLA by 151.2% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $171,230,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of KLA from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.70.

KLA Stock Down 1.0%

KLAC stock opened at $183.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.17, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $220.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.01. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.22 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA’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. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total transaction of $7,359,878.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company 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.