Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC Trims Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC trimmed its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,877 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,764 shares during the period. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Boltwood Capital Management raised its holdings in KLA by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 20,203 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its stake in KLA by 2.5% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 26,373 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,141,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the second quarter valued at $278,000. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 816.2% in the second quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718 shares during the period. Finally, Atomic Invest LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 781.8% in the second quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 97 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna set a $215.00 price target on shares of KLA and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nineteen equities research 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, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.22.

KLA Trading Up 3.3%

KLAC stock traded up $6.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $206.89. The company had a trading volume of 7,352,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,156,984. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $98.10 and a 52-week high of $307.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.42, a PEG ratio of 1.73 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase 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 currently 25.07%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management solutions used by semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect defects, measure and analyze materials and structures, and monitor manufacturing processes throughout the production of integrated circuits and other advanced electronic components.

The company’s product portfolio includes inspection and metrology systems, wafer and reticle inspection equipment, process-control software, data analytics tools, and related services.