MCF Advisors LLC Acquires 3,016 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 900.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,016 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Formuepleje A S boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1,125.5% during the 2nd quarter. Formuepleje A S now owns 30,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,070,000 after buying an additional 27,609 shares during the period. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co raised its holdings in KLA by 829.7% in the 2nd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the second quarter worth approximately $20,763,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in KLA during the second quarter worth approximately $2,522,430,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 978.2% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,164,000 after acquiring an additional 779,317 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna set a $215.00 target price on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.22.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $177.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $93.75 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. The company has a market cap of $231.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.32, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $198.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.93.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase 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 was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.07%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 778,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,970,908.80. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 213,413 shares of company stock valued at $45,990,744. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

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.