SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stake in KLA Corporation $KLAC

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 418.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,227 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $31,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the first quarter worth $26,473,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in KLA by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 41,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,400,000 after purchasing an additional 11,442 shares in the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments increased its stake in KLA by 631.6% during the 2nd quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 15,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,603,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 9.3% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,370 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,128,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $1,100.00 to $1,500.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on KLA from $1,100.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on KLA from $1,060.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citic Securities increased their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $1,350.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,275.54.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,704,954.10. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $1,359.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.65 billion, a PE ratio of 42.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,212.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,055.31. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $1,406.97.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.47 by $0.34. KLA had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 107.26%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 7.920-9.480 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. KLA’s payout ratio is 23.86%.

About KLA

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.