KLA Corporation $KLAC Position Reduced by Monument Capital Management

Monument Capital Management decreased its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 75.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,721 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 11,486 shares during the quarter. Monument Capital Management’s holdings in KLA were worth $725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 36.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 6.8% during the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,275.0% in the second 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 period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $196.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $256.72 billion, a PE ratio of 53.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $98.10 and a 12-month high of $307.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.65.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a return on equity of 87.66% and a net margin of 35.57%.The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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 research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given 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 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 25.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,558,526. This trade represents a 36.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total transaction of $12,378,625.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 706,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,506,269. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. Corporate insiders own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings cut KLA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $215.00 price objective on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.26.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process-control and yield-management solutions used by semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. Its systems help customers detect defects, measure and analyze materials and structures, and monitor manufacturing processes throughout the production of integrated circuits and other advanced electronic components.

The company’s product portfolio includes inspection and metrology systems, wafer and reticle inspection equipment, process-control software, data analytics tools, and related services.