KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock Holdings Increased by Mufg Securities Americas Inc.

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 984.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,716 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises approximately 0.6% of Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $11,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in KLA by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at $16,167,746.53. The trade was a 43.41% decrease in their position. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares in the company, valued at $15,225,605.10. This trade represents a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Key KLA News

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Argus upped their target price on KLA from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price target on KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $215.00 price target on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.70.

KLA Stock Down 4.5%

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $175.54 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $83.22 and a 12 month high of $307.37. The company has a market capitalization of $229.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.87, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.58. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

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.