KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Sold by Orange Investment Advisors Inc.

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,862 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,336 shares during the period. KLA makes up 2.1% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $16,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. MN Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 1,574 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its position in shares of KLA by 133.2% during the 3rd quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 130,322 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,404,000 after purchasing an additional 74,446 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 25,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BG Investment Services LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $924,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $145.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $190.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $107.20 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.25.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period last 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 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 25.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 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 value of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $2,698,291.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,322,505. This represents a 38.43% 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 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454. 79.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. Susquehanna set a $215.00 target price on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $227.00 price target on KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price objective on KLA and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.26.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.