Wolfe Research Downgrades Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) to Peer Perform

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.59.

Lam Research Trading Up 4.0 %

LRCX stock opened at $79.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.53. The company has a market capitalization of $101.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.00. Lam Research has a one year low of $68.87 and a one year high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Lam Research will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1,394.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,123,440,000 after purchasing an additional 15,005,178 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $175,652,000. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1,129.8% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 482,156 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,825,000 after acquiring an additional 442,949 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 908.9% in the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 490,881 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,456,000 after purchasing an additional 442,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lifted its holdings in Lam Research by 886.9% in the fourth quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 349,792 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,266,000 after acquiring an additional 314,349 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.