Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Acquires 29,951 Shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 44.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 97,498 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,951 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises about 3.2% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC owned 0.07% of KLA worth $66,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in KLA by 81.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 544 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 341 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in KLA by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 32,916 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $20,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in KLA by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,422 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,526,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in KLA by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,894 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,454,000 after buying an additional 772 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $5.44 on Thursday, hitting $928.62. The company had a trading volume of 798,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,137,622. The company's fifty day moving average price is $817.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $739.01. KLA Corporation has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $932.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $122.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 112.97%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. KLA's revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's payout ratio is 27.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Securities raised their price target on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on KLA from $868.00 to $916.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $840.33.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.