Continuum Advisory LLC Buys 7,344 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1,015.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,067 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 7,344 shares during the quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 928.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,471,832,000 after acquiring an additional 13,381,153 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $2,522,430,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its holdings in KLA by 960.4% in the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $279,580,000 after purchasing an additional 839,265 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in KLA by 978.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,164,000 after purchasing an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at about $177,385,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total transaction of $17,421,653.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,970,908.80. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 22,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,322,505. This trade represents a 38.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock opened at $172.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $225.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.98, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.46. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $83.22 and a 12-month high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna set a $215.00 price target on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, July 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $140.00 to $186.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.22.

KLA Company 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.