MCF Advisors LLC Purchases 3,016 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 900.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,016 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gemmer Asset Management LLC bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at about $308,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 899.4% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,096,673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271,158 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 16,865.3% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 136,740 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,256,000 after purchasing an additional 135,934 shares during the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth about $245,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,564,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $12,401,634.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. The trade was a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 213,413 shares of company stock valued at $45,990,744 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.22.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $177.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.49 billion, a PE ratio of 48.32, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $93.75 and a one year high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is 25.07%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management technologies used by semiconductor and other advanced-electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect, measure and analyze defects and variations during the production of integrated circuits, enabling manufacturers to improve process performance, product quality and manufacturing yields.

The company’s portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect-review and analysis equipment, and software that supports process control and data management.