Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on LRCX. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $1,030.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lam Research from $930.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. B. Riley raised shares of Lam Research from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $870.00 to $1,100.00 in a report on Friday, April 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lam Research from $975.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lam Research currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $950.85.

Lam Research Price Performance

NASDAQ LRCX opened at $925.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Lam Research has a 12-month low of $493.42 and a 12-month high of $1,007.39. The company has a market capitalization of $121.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $943.67 and its 200-day moving average is $811.51.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.26 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 45.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lam Research will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.42%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In related news, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total transaction of $857,330.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,246,168.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total value of $5,073,255.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 22,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,380,648.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total transaction of $857,330.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $10,246,168.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,029 shares of company stock valued at $6,559,489. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Lam Research by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,458 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its position in Lam Research by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its position in Lam Research by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 530 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Lam Research by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 62,610 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,242,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Lam Research by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 50,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,697,000 after buying an additional 2,105 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes, and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company offers ALTUS systems to deposit conformal films for tungsten metallization applications; SABRE electrochemical deposition products for copper interconnect transition that offers copper damascene manufacturing; SOLA ultraviolet thermal processing products for film treatments; and VECTOR plasma-enhanced CVD ALD products.