Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,006.10.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LRCX shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Lam Research from $1,025.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Lam Research from $1,250.00 to $1,150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total transaction of $4,654,845.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,857 shares in the company, valued at $7,239,346.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy Archer sold 9,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,070.39, for a total value of $10,329,263.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,596,739.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,239,346.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,326 shares of company stock worth $17,383,715. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at $1,414,111,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Lam Research during the 1st quarter valued at about $192,668,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 968,115 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $940,592,000 after buying an additional 191,230 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,856,661 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,519,576,000 after acquiring an additional 144,914 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 5.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,959,151 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,875,023,000 after acquiring an additional 142,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of LRCX opened at $747.78 on Friday. Lam Research has a fifty-two week low of $574.42 and a fifty-two week high of $1,130.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $875.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $933.27. The firm has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Shares of Lam Research are going to split on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.58 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.98 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lam Research will post 35.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is 33.84%.

Lam Research announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.