KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock: Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Trims Position

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 359,728 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,952 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in KLA were worth $70,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of KLA by 928.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,471,832,000 after buying an additional 13,381,153 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in KLA during the second quarter worth about $2,522,430,000. National Pension Service raised its position in KLA by 899.4% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,096,673,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271,158 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 987.0% in the second quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 979,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $295,486,000 after purchasing an additional 889,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its stake in shares of KLA by 960.4% during the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 926,652 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $279,580,000 after purchasing an additional 839,265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 target price on shares of KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.26.

KLA News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s consensus price target implies approximately 27.9% potential upside. Analysts’ upward earnings-estimate revisions could provide near-term support, although price targets are not always reliable indicators. Wall Street Analysts See a 27.86% Upside in KLA
• Positive Sentiment: KLA’s underlying business remains strong: its latest reported quarter exceeded revenue and EPS expectations, with revenue up 15.2% year over year. The company also issued fiscal first-quarter 2027 EPS guidance of $1.06 to $1.26, supporting the longer-term growth case.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional ownership data showed more investors adding than reducing positions in the latest quarter, including sizable additions by Invesco, Norges Bank, Capital International Investors and JPMorgan. Why KLA stock fell 4.6% today
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reduced its KLA price target to $227. While the revised target remains above the reported share price, the cut signals more cautious expectations. Morgan Stanley cuts target for KLA Corporation stock to USD 227
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether KLA still offers attractive value after its five-year rally. Its elevated valuation leaves the stock vulnerable to profit-taking if AI infrastructure spending or semiconductor demand slows. KLA Stock Looks Fully Valued After Its 5 Year Run
• Negative Sentiment: Applied Materials, Lam Research and ASML also weakened as investors reassessed AI-related chip spending, financing conditions and potential competitive pressure from China’s memory-chip industry. Semiconductor Equipment Stocks Slide
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider-transaction data shows selling by KLA executives, including the CEO and CFO, with no reported open-market purchases in the past six months. This may reinforce concerns that the stock has become fully valued, though insider sales can reflect compensation and diversification.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total transaction of $880,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 243,339 shares of company stock valued at $46,903,454. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $178.81 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.68 and its 200-day moving average is $196.64. The company has a market cap of $233.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.45. 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 12 month low of $105.39 and a 12 month high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is 25.07%.

About KLA

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.