Meritage Portfolio Management Has $18.89 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 20.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,509 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,564 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises 1.3% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in KLA were worth $18,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 1.1% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 188,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $169,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth about $95,217,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 98,398 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,139,000 after buying an additional 12,729 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 5,697.9% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 97,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,094,000 after buying an additional 95,554 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Associates Ltd. OH grew its stake in KLA by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $80,721,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein initiated coverage with an “Outperform” and Stacy Rasgon set a $1,700 price target — a fresh analyst endorsement that supports higher upside expectations. Bernstein Initiates Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen upgraded KLAC from Hold to Buy and raised its price target to $1,800 — the most aggressive recent target, which investors may view as a catalyst for further re-rating. TD Cowen Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America bumped its price target to $1,650 and maintains a Buy — another institutional upgrade adding to the consensus of higher fair-value estimates. BofA Price Target Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target dispersion: Quiver Quant shows a median 6‑month target around $1,350 but multiple recent targets range from ~$1,450 to $1,800 — indicating bullish skew but some variability among firms. Institutional flows are mixed (large buys by some managers, reductions by others). Quiver Quant Analyst Snapshot
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling over the past six months (multiple executives have sold shares) — could concern some investors about opportunistic exits at current levels. Insider Trading Details

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,260.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their target price on KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on KLA from $1,200.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $1,550.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,500.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,370.68.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,704,954.10. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $1,434.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $188.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $1,469.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,232.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,073.47.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.47 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.33 EPS. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.86%.

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.