Strategic Financial Services Inc. Grows Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Strategic Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 856.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,116 shares during the period. KLA accounts for about 0.6% of Strategic Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Strategic Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $14,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $250.00 price target on KLA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 target price on KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 77,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. The trade was a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total transaction of $17,421,653.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 778,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,970,908.80. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,533 shares of company stock worth $55,977,470. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $185.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $242.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.61, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 52 week low of $87.83 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $205.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.93.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. Analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 5.42 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%.

About KLA

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.