Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases Shares of 68,898 Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 68,898 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,977,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,317 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC purchased a new stake in Lam Research during the third quarter valued at about $566,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 20.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 238,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $194,451,000 after purchasing an additional 39,725 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LRCX opened at $77.93 on Thursday. Lam Research Co. has a 1 year low of $68.87 and a 1 year high of $113.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $79.59 and its 200 day moving average is $77.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,117,560. The trade was a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LRCX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna upgraded Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp raised 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.22.

Lam Research 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.