KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock: Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Reduces Stake

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. cut its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,945 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 15,355 shares during the quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,094,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,927 shares in the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 771.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,848 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its position in KLA by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 11,243 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC increased its position in KLA by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 12,716 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $215.00 price target on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.26.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $174.46 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $187.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.86. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $107.20 and a 12 month high of $307.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.58, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 25.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total value of $12,378,625.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,506,269. This represents a 9.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $2,698,291.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,322,505. The trade was a 38.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. 79.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Company Profile

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.