Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $75.20, but opened at $72.75. Lam Research shares last traded at $71.79, with a volume of 2,231,706 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LRCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Lam Research from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.24.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.97. The company has a market cap of $90.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.46.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 50.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 13.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Lam Research by 1,394.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,123,440,000 after purchasing an additional 15,005,178 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Lam Research by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,886,676 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,817,113,000 after buying an additional 94,086 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,120,511 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,539,413,000 after acquiring an additional 64,053 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 0.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,871,473 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,527,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 7.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,254,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,335,522,000 after acquiring an additional 89,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

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.