Venturi Wealth Management LLC Reduces Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,680 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 505 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises approximately 1.0% of Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $22,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 7,100.0% in the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 72 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 334.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1,114.3% during the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 85 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,704,954.10. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 91.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $1,359.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.69, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $1,406.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,212.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,055.31.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.47 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.33 EPS. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. KLA’s payout ratio is 23.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on KLAC. Citic Securities upped their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $1,350.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. New Street Research upped their target price on shares of KLA from $980.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on KLA from $1,135.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on KLA from $1,115.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,275.54.

KLA Profile

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.