NorthRock Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in KLA Corporation $KLAC

NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 934.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,232 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 11,953 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $188.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $201.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $246.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.54, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $91.02 and a 1-year high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price objective on KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.22.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,225,605.10. The trade was a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,970,908.80. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.