Versant Capital Management Inc Boosts Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 709.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 7,337 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 820.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. First County Bank CT increased its stake in shares of KLA by 869.1% in the 2nd quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 10,020 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,023,000 after purchasing an additional 8,986 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South increased its stake in shares of KLA by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 6,980 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 6,282 shares in the last quarter. Union Heritage Capital LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter worth $4,152,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in KLA by 6.8% during the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on KLA from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $240.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.70.

KLA News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A broad semiconductor rally, fueled by renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence, strong memory demand and upcoming chip-industry earnings, supports the outlook for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment. Semiconductor Rally Powers S&P 500 to Fresh Record High
• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: revenue rose 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion, while EPS of $1.05 topped the $1.00 consensus estimate. Management also issued quarterly EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26, offering support for the company’s growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually high options activity, including elevated call volume, indicates that some traders are positioning for a rebound after the stock’s recent retreat. Options activity is a sentiment signal rather than a fundamental catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable, with a reported “Moderate Buy” consensus and several price targets above recent trading levels. However, KLA’s valuation is demanding, with a price-to-earnings ratio above 50, leaving the stock vulnerable to disappointment if semiconductor capital spending slows. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its Huge Run
• Negative Sentiment: CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares for approximately $881,000, while EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares worth about $2.70 million. These transactions reduced their holdings by roughly 36% and 38%, respectively, adding to a recent pattern of insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: DekaBank disclosed a roughly 90% reduction in its KLA position, equivalent to approximately 2.86 million shares valued near $862 million at the reporting date. Although the 13F reflects holdings as of June 30 rather than current trading, the disclosure may reinforce concerns about institutional profit-taking.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $192.85 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.69. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.22 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The company has a market capitalization of $251.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.59, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue 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, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 713,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,996,990.71. The trade was a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,499 shares of company stock valued at $34,248,710. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

KLA Company 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.