PFG Advisors Trims Stake in Lam Research Corporation $LRCX

PFG Advisors reduced its stake in Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 11.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,331 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,228 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Lam Research were worth $7,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. World Equity Group Inc. increased its position in Lam Research by 0.5% in the second quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 5,576 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,416,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. First County Bank CT grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 2,483 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Williams & Novak LLC grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Williams & Novak LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $358.47.

Key Stories Impacting Lam Research

Here are the key news stories impacting Lam Research this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lam Research plans to increase R&D experiment capacity by more than 50% across facilities in the United States, Asia and Europe. Management says the investment should accelerate product development and help customers address increasingly complex AI-chip architectures, materials and nanoscale manufacturing requirements. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are viewing Lam’s expertise in etching, including next-generation atomic-layer etching, as a potentially valuable competitive advantage as AI-driven semiconductor production requires greater manufacturing precision. The company’s recent rebound has renewed optimism that its technology could benefit from a longer-term equipment upcycle. 247WallSt article
• Positive Sentiment: SanDisk’s bullish multiyear financial targets have strengthened expectations for memory-industry capital spending through 2030, supporting demand prospects for semiconductor equipment suppliers such as Lam Research. SanDisk financial targets article
• Neutral Sentiment: Polen Capital identified LRCX as a top performer in its Focus Growth portfolio, while Zacks continues to highlight the stock’s long-term earnings outlook. These endorsements may support sentiment but do not represent new company guidance or guaranteed returns. Polen Capital article
• Negative Sentiment: The R&D expansion requires substantial spending over several years, creating execution and return-on-investment risks. Lam also trades at a relatively elevated valuation after a sharp recovery, leaving the stock vulnerable to profit-taking and concerns that the semiconductor cycle may be approaching a peak.

Lam Research Trading Down 1.4%

LRCX stock opened at $332.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Lam Research Corporation has a 1-year low of $94.11 and a 1-year high of $438.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.14. The company has a market capitalization of $415.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.70, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.84.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The semiconductor company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.13. Lam Research had a net margin of 31.27% and a return on equity of 67.60%. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Lam Research has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.000-2.300 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 17th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 7,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.60, for a total transaction of $2,371,226.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 58,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,102,312. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Eric Brandt sold 54,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.80, for a total value of $19,118,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 199,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,881,114. The trade was a 21.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,441 shares of company stock worth $27,614,296. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Founded in 1980 by David K. Lam and headquartered in Fremont, California, the company develops and manufactures systems used in multiple stages of semiconductor device production, including thin film deposition, plasma etch, wafer cleaning and related process modules and automation.

Lam’s product portfolio covers core process technologies employed by logic and memory manufacturers, with equipment designed to support advanced-node patterning, 3D NAND and other emerging device architectures.