Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 50 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. cut its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 720 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 621.9% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.8% in the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 13,843 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,400,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 32.6% during the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,036 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,477,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $920.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $775.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays increased their target price on KLA from $590.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $980.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $900.29.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $1,064.29 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $928.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $824.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.83. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $551.33 and a one year high of $1,076.79. The stock has a market cap of $140.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.48.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $9.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $0.85. KLA had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 112.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 7.760-9.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 13,716 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $881.50, for a total transaction of $12,090,654.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,128,418. The trade was a 33.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 8,049 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $913.68, for a total value of $7,354,210.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,488,132.72. The trade was a 41.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,605 shares of company stock valued at $29,348,291 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.