Nilsine Partners LLC Buys 59,194 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 884.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 65,887 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,194 shares during the period. KLA makes up approximately 1.4% of Nilsine Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $19,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 13,381,153 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $2,522,430,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 987.0% during the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,486,000 after buying an additional 889,269 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in KLA by 960.4% during the second quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $279,580,000 after acquiring an additional 839,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in KLA by 978.2% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,164,000 after acquiring an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares of KLA 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at $4,322,505. This trade represents a 38.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,970,908.80. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 258,533 shares of company stock valued at $55,977,470 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 7.3%

KLAC stock opened at $185.60 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $242.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $205.50 and a 200-day moving average of $188.63. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $87.83 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank set a $200.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.