IFP Advisors Inc Increases Stake in KLA Corporation $KLAC

IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 752.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,775 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,042 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its position in KLA by 0.4% during the second quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 3,773 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,380,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in KLA by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth $90,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,118 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,584,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at $444,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotiabank set a $200.00 price objective on KLA in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $253.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.22.

KLA Trading Down 3.1%

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $177.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $231.49 billion, a PE ratio of 48.32, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $198.56 and a 200-day moving average of $189.93. 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,225,605.10. This represents a 21.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 213,413 shares of company stock valued at $45,990,744 over the last quarter. Company 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.