Norway Savings Bank Purchases 13,589 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Norway Savings Bank lifted its position in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 838.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,589 shares during the period. KLA comprises 1.9% of Norway Savings Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the second quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 3,773 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,380,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the second quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in KLA by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,118 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,584,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory purchased a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $444,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven chip demand, rising global semiconductor sales and potential expansion of advanced manufacturing capacity—including a proposed Tesla-SpaceX “Terafab”—are supporting the outlook for KLA’s wafer-inspection and process-control equipment. KLA Stock Gains Amid Broad Semiconductor Rally, AI Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Fiera Capital added 1,209,718 KLA shares, more than doubling its previous position, according to a June 30 13F filing. The disclosure is a favorable institutional signal, although it reflects holdings from an earlier period rather than current trading. Fiera Capital Added KLA Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst commentary remains constructive: KLA has a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with targets from several firms above recent trading levels. Wells Fargo also issued an Overweight rating, while TD Cowen raised its target to $260.
• Positive Sentiment: The board declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, payable September 1 to shareholders of record August 17. The unchanged payout provides modest shareholder-return support, though its approximately 0.5% yield is unlikely to be a major price catalyst. KLA Declares Regular Cash Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA’s latest results beat expectations, with revenue up 15.2% year over year to $3.66 billion and EPS of $1.05 versus a $1.00 consensus estimate. However, those results were reported previously and are likely already reflected in the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Insiders continue to sell shares: Chief Accounting Officer Virendra Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares for about $881,000, while EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 13,802 shares for approximately $2.7 million. The sales add to a six-month pattern of insider selling without reported purchases.
• Negative Sentiment: KLA trades at a demanding valuation, with a price-to-earnings ratio above 50. A slowdown in semiconductor capital spending or weaker-than-expected AI investment could therefore create downside risk.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at $70,001,875.68. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,499 shares of company stock valued at $34,248,710. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of KLA from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.70.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $198.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.22 and a 1 year high of $307.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.05. The company has a market cap of $258.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.03, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 25.07%.

KLA 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.