TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co Raises Stock Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co lifted its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 829.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 6,654 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises 1.4% of TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

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 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at $157,996,990.71. The trade was a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 156,499 shares of company stock valued at $34,248,710. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $245.00 price target on KLA and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.70.

Key Headlines Impacting 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.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $198.11 on Monday. 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 $183.24. The company has a market cap of $258.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.03, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly 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. 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 given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.07%.

KLA Company 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.