Sowell Financial Services LLC Sells 11,440 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Sowell Financial Services LLC lowered its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 49.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 11,440 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Atomic Invest LLC lifted its position in KLA by 781.8% in the 2nd quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 97 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its stake in KLA by 2,275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of approximately $4.14 billion and earnings of $1.22 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $4.04 billion and $1.18 per share. Revenue increased 28.9% year over year, marking the company’s 10th consecutive quarter of growth. KLAC Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company issued fiscal Q2 revenue guidance of $4.5 billion to $4.9 billion, implying roughly $4.7 billion at the midpoint versus consensus of $4.5 billion. EPS guidance of $1.33 to $1.55 also brackets or exceeds the $1.36 consensus estimate, reinforcing expectations for continued AI-driven demand. KLA Q2 Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Demand for wafer inspection, process-control and advanced-packaging equipment is benefiting from the increasing complexity of AI chips and the construction of leading-edge semiconductor fabs. Argus reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $225 price target, while JPMorgan raised its target to $240 and maintained Overweight. Advanced Packaging Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed. Several firms lowered price targets after earnings—including Wells Fargo, Needham, Evercore ISI, Cantor Fitzgerald, Susquehanna and UBS—citing valuation, structural share headwinds or a more cautious risk-reward profile, even though many retained positive or neutral ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: KLAC is declining in sympathy with semiconductor shares as investors question whether elevated AI infrastructure spending can continue at its current pace. The pullback also leaves the stock below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, increasing near-term technical pressure despite the strong operating outlook. KLA Shares Weaken as Semiconductor Stocks Fall

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total value of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 778,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,970,908.80. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total value of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This represents a 43.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454 over the last three months. Company insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus set a $230.00 price target on KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.35.

KLA Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of KLAC opened at $157.91 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.62 and a 200 day moving average of $181.78. KLA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $107.20 and a fifty-two week high of $307.37. The firm has a market cap of $206.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.76.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 89.30%. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.47 EPS. KLA’s revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

KLA Company Profile

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.