Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $4.21 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 24.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,193 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $4,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its stake in KLA by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 570 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in KLA by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 438 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in KLA by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 381 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 39 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.50, for a total value of $34,768.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,332,164. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,860 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,798 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $920.00 target price (up previously from $870.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $833.89.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock traded up $3.96 on Wednesday, hitting $923.18. The stock had a trading volume of 600,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,134,185. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $931.09. The business's 50 day moving average is $812.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $737.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $122.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.42.

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

KLA announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

About KLA

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.