Greenleaf Trust Grows Position in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Greenleaf Trust grew its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 885.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,799 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,863 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in KLA were worth $11,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its stake in KLA by 829.7% during the second quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $20,763,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $2,522,430,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in KLA by 978.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,164,000 after purchasing an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its position in KLA by 600.7% in the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 31,561 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,522,000 after purchasing an additional 27,057 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $253.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.70.

KLA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s AI exposure remains a long-term support. Its process-control tools are viewed as important to improving yields in advanced packaging and increasingly complex semiconductor manufacturing. What KLA’s AI-Fueled Advanced Packaging Momentum Means For Shareholders
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results exceeded expectations: revenue reached $3.66 billion, up 15.2% year over year, while EPS topped consensus. Management’s next-quarter EPS guidance of $1.06–$1.26 also points to continued growth. Analysts cited by Zacks see meaningful potential upside, although price targets are not a guarantee. Wall Street Analysts Think KLA Could Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary remains constructive on KLA’s role as a potential “yield bottleneck” beneficiary of AI chip production and advanced manufacturing investment. KLA: The AI Yield Bottleneck Is Becoming More Valuable
• Neutral Sentiment: There was no clear new company-specific catalyst. The move instead reflects broader weakness across chip-equipment names, including declines in major semiconductor stocks that weighed on the Nasdaq-100 ETF and KLAC.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may have considered KLA’s strong earnings insufficient relative to elevated expectations; the stock sold off after its late-July report despite beating estimates. Comparisons with faster-growing semiconductor names also weakened its near-term appeal. KLAC vs. SNDK: Which Semiconductor Stock is a Better Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider activity is a headwind: KLA insiders reported open-market sales but no purchases over the past six months, including sales by senior executives. Investors also remain wary that export restrictions or weaker China demand could pressure sales and services.

KLA Trading Down 4.5%

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $175.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $229.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $83.22 and a one year high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.58.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.07%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,037.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,225,605.10. This represents a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Profile

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.