Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Stock Holdings in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 522.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,088,085 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,109,310 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $439,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the third quarter worth $245,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Lam Research by 900.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc grew its holdings in Lam Research by 908.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $73.78 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.99 and a 200 day moving average of $77.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73. Lam Research Co. has a 1-year low of $68.87 and a 1-year high of $113.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 27.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LRCX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lam Research from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.59.

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.