KLA Corporation $KLAC Stake Raised by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 16,865.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,740 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 135,934 shares during the period. KLA makes up about 1.3% of WINTON GROUP Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $41,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in KLA by 298,176.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 599,111,883 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $180,758,046,000 after purchasing an additional 598,911,025 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in KLA by 928.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,471,832,000 after purchasing an additional 13,381,153 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,522,430,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 987.0% during the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,486,000 after buying an additional 889,269 shares during the period. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its stake in shares of KLA by 960.4% during the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $279,580,000 after buying an additional 839,265 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 3.2%

KLAC stock opened at $182.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $238.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.88, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $91.49 and a 12 month high of $307.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $199.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.74.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.07%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares in the company, valued at $15,225,605.10. This represents a 21.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Bren Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 213,413 shares of company stock valued at $45,990,744 in the last three months. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $200.00 target price on KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.22.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management technologies used by semiconductor and other advanced-electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect, measure and analyze defects and variations during the production of integrated circuits, enabling manufacturers to improve process performance, product quality and manufacturing yields.

The company’s portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect-review and analysis equipment, and software that supports process control and data management.