Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Up 8.3% After Earnings Beat

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) shares rose 8.3% on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $81.28 and last traded at $81.36. Approximately 11,872,303 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 11,942,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.15.

The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 52.58%.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 27.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on LRCX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho decreased 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 note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp raised shares of Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. American National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Lam Research by 34.0% in the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Lam Research by 6.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 26,559 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 938.9% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,967 shares during the period. Eldred Rock Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 4.3% during the third quarter. Eldred Rock Partners LLC now owns 15,370 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,579,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 36.9% during the third quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.94. 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 has a market cap of $104.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.45.

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.