Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $79.17 Million Stake in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,398 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,293 shares during the period. KLA makes up 1.3% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.06% of KLA worth $79,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of KLA by 4,100.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 42 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 7,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 72 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $1,245.67 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1,174.43 and a 200 day moving average of $1,015.99. The stock has a market cap of $163.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $1,284.47.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.47 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.The business’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is 23.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,135.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of KLA from $1,154.00 to $1,214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Argus set a $1,400.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, October 31st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on KLA from $745.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on KLA from $1,120.00 to $1,280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,275.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was 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 owned 81,211 shares in the company, valued at $97,704,954.10. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 91.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.