Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $16.37 Million Position in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 942.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,263 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,057 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $16,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $2,698,291.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,322,505. This trade represents a 38.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 213,413 shares of company stock worth $45,990,744 over the last three months. 91.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock opened at $177.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.93. The stock has a market cap of $231.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $93.75 and a 1 year high of $307.37. 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Research 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. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, July 31st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.22.

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.