KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock Bought by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 369.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,435 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,065 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 928.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,471,832,000 after buying an additional 13,381,153 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in KLA during the second quarter worth about $2,522,430,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in KLA by 239.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,614,990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,094,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959,927 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in KLA by 899.4% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,096,673,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in KLA by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,418,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $471,419,000 after acquiring an additional 248,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets set a $133.00 target price on KLA in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler set a $425.00 price target on KLA in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,167,746.53. This represents a 43.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,558,526. This represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454 over the last three months. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Stock Down 5.7%

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $157.91 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $107.20 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.78. The firm has a market cap of $206.07 billion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 89.30%. The firm had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.47 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.6%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Key Stories Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of approximately $4.14 billion and earnings of $1.22 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $4.04 billion and $1.18 per share. Revenue increased 28.9% year over year, marking the company’s 10th consecutive quarter of growth. KLAC Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company issued fiscal Q2 revenue guidance of $4.5 billion to $4.9 billion, implying roughly $4.7 billion at the midpoint versus consensus of $4.5 billion. EPS guidance of $1.33 to $1.55 also brackets or exceeds the $1.36 consensus estimate, reinforcing expectations for continued AI-driven demand. KLA Q2 Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Demand for wafer inspection, process-control and advanced-packaging equipment is benefiting from the increasing complexity of AI chips and the construction of leading-edge semiconductor fabs. Argus reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $225 price target, while JPMorgan raised its target to $240 and maintained Overweight. Advanced Packaging Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed. Several firms lowered price targets after earnings—including Wells Fargo, Needham, Evercore ISI, Cantor Fitzgerald, Susquehanna and UBS—citing valuation, structural share headwinds or a more cautious risk-reward profile, even though many retained positive or neutral ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: KLAC is declining in sympathy with semiconductor shares as investors question whether elevated AI infrastructure spending can continue at its current pace. The pullback also leaves the stock below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, increasing near-term technical pressure despite the strong operating outlook. KLA Shares Weaken as Semiconductor Stocks Fall

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.