KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock Bought by PineStone Asset Management Inc.

PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,418,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 248,700 shares during the period. KLA comprises about 3.1% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $471,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 15.2% in the third quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,647 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Peak Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Peak Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of KLA by 95.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth $376,000. Finally, Aspiriant LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 5.0%

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $165.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $216.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $186.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.64. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $107.20 and a 1 year high of $307.37. 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 25.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $2,698,291.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,322,505. The trade was a 38.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $215.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.26.

KLA Company Profile

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.