Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

LRCX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Lam Research from $880.00 to $850.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lam Research from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lam Research from $825.00 to $865.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a hold rating and a $1,000.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $950.85.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $928.81 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $943.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $813.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Lam Research has a 1 year low of $507.19 and a 1 year high of $1,007.39.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.26 by $0.53. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 45.96%. The business had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Lam Research will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 29.42%.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $857,330.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,246,168.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lam Research news, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $857,330.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,246,168.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total transaction of $5,073,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,380,648.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,029 shares of company stock worth $6,559,489 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,458 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 530 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 62,610 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 50,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,697,000 after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lam Research

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.