KLA Corporation $KLAC Stock: Profund Advisors LLC Cuts Position

Profund Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,549 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 16,945 shares during the period. KLA comprises about 0.9% of Profund Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $32,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in KLA by 36.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its position in KLA by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 1,783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its position in KLA by 28.2% in the 1st quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,379 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,664,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 87,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.95, for a total transaction of $17,421,653.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 778,944 shares in the company, valued at $154,970,908.80. The trade was a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 243,339 shares of company stock worth $46,903,454 over the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of approximately $4.14 billion and earnings of $1.22 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $4.04 billion and $1.18 per share. Revenue increased 28.9% year over year, marking the company’s 10th consecutive quarter of growth. KLAC Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company issued fiscal Q2 revenue guidance of $4.5 billion to $4.9 billion, implying roughly $4.7 billion at the midpoint versus consensus of $4.5 billion. EPS guidance of $1.33 to $1.55 also brackets or exceeds the $1.36 consensus estimate, reinforcing expectations for continued AI-driven demand. KLA Q2 Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Demand for wafer inspection, process-control and advanced-packaging equipment is benefiting from the increasing complexity of AI chips and the construction of leading-edge semiconductor fabs. Argus reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $225 price target, while JPMorgan raised its target to $240 and maintained Overweight. Advanced Packaging Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed. Several firms lowered price targets after earnings—including Wells Fargo, Needham, Evercore ISI, Cantor Fitzgerald, Susquehanna and UBS—citing valuation, structural share headwinds or a more cautious risk-reward profile, even though many retained positive or neutral ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: KLAC is declining in sympathy with semiconductor shares as investors question whether elevated AI infrastructure spending can continue at its current pace. The pullback also leaves the stock below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, increasing near-term technical pressure despite the strong operating outlook. KLA Shares Weaken as Semiconductor Stocks Fall

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $157.91 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $107.20 and a 1-year high of $307.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 89.30%. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.47 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Corporation will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on KLA from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (down from $190.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial set a $225.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered shares of KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.35.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.