Profund Advisors LLC Sells 16,945 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Profund Advisors LLC reduced its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 164,549 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 16,945 shares during the period. KLA makes up 0.9% of Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $32,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 928.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,471,832,000 after buying an additional 13,381,153 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,522,430,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in KLA by 239.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,614,990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,094,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959,927 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,271,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 987.0% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,486,000 after purchasing an additional 889,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler set a $425.00 price target on KLA in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on KLA from $245.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial set a $225.00 target price on KLA in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.35.

KLA Trading Down 5.7%

KLAC stock opened at $157.91 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $107.20 and a one year high of $307.37. The stock has a market cap of $206.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $178.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. KLA had a return on equity of 89.30% and a net margin of 36.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.23 dividend. 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 yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Key Headlines Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of approximately $4.14 billion and earnings of $1.22 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $4.04 billion and $1.18 per share. Revenue increased 28.9% year over year, marking the company’s 10th consecutive quarter of growth. KLAC Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company issued fiscal Q2 revenue guidance of $4.5 billion to $4.9 billion, implying roughly $4.7 billion at the midpoint versus consensus of $4.5 billion. EPS guidance of $1.33 to $1.55 also brackets or exceeds the $1.36 consensus estimate, reinforcing expectations for continued AI-driven demand. KLA Q2 Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Demand for wafer inspection, process-control and advanced-packaging equipment is benefiting from the increasing complexity of AI chips and the construction of leading-edge semiconductor fabs. Argus reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $225 price target, while JPMorgan raised its target to $240 and maintained Overweight. Advanced Packaging Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed. Several firms lowered price targets after earnings—including Wells Fargo, Needham, Evercore ISI, Cantor Fitzgerald, Susquehanna and UBS—citing valuation, structural share headwinds or a more cautious risk-reward profile, even though many retained positive or neutral ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: KLAC is declining in sympathy with semiconductor shares as investors question whether elevated AI infrastructure spending can continue at its current pace. The pullback also leaves the stock below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, increasing near-term technical pressure despite the strong operating outlook. KLA Shares Weaken as Semiconductor Stocks Fall

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total transaction of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares in the company, valued at $154,970,908.80. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,167,746.53. The trade was a 43.41% 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 worth $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, 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.