40,314 KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Acquired by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 272,985 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 40,314 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises about 2.2% of Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $53,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in KLA by 928.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,471,832,000 after purchasing an additional 13,381,153 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,522,430,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in KLA by 239.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,614,990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,094,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,927 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in KLA by 899.4% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,096,673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 987.0% during the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,486,000 after purchasing an additional 889,269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the company’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 $2,698,291.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,322,505. This represents a 38.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $145.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.95. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $107.20 and a fifty-two week 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.