KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock Sold by Orange Investment Advisors Inc.

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 86,862 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,336 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises 2.1% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $16,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MN Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 1,574 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 133.2% in the 3rd quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 130,322 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,404,000 after acquiring an additional 74,446 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 25,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BG Investment Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $924,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $145.61 on Monday. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $107.20 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.88. The company has a market capitalization of $190.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.26.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This represents a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.