Strategic Financial Services Inc. Buys 42,116 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 856.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,116 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for approximately 0.6% of Strategic Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Strategic Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $14,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 829.7% during the second quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 6,654 shares during the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,763,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,522,430,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in KLA by 978.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,164,000 after acquiring an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its position in KLA by 600.7% in the 2nd quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 31,561 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,522,000 after acquiring an additional 27,057 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $185.60 on Monday. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $87.83 and a 52-week high of $307.37. The company has a market cap 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 company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.93.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS 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 given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is 25.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at $70,001,875.68. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP MaryBeth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,225,605.10. This represents a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 target price on KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price objective on KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $253.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.