Brown Shipley& Co Ltd Makes New $1.54 Million Investment in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,901 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,540,000. KLA makes up 0.8% of Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the second quarter worth $27,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 2,275.0% in the second quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of KLA 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. The trade was a 43.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454 over the last three months. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna set a $215.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.26.

KLA Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of KLAC stock traded down $0.80 on Friday, reaching $195.92. 2,041,814 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,059,316. 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 $98.10 and a one year high of $307.37. The stock has a market cap of $255.68 billion, a PE ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is 25.07%.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management solutions used by semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect defects, measure and analyze materials and structures, and monitor manufacturing processes throughout the production of integrated circuits and other advanced electronic components.

The company’s product portfolio includes inspection and metrology systems, wafer and reticle inspection equipment, process-control software, data analytics tools, and related services.