Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Upgraded 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 report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

LRCX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Lam Research from $86.50 to $90.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Lam Research from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Lam Research from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Lam Research from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $141.28.

Lam Research Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $81.54 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.00, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.47. Lam Research has a 12-month low of $57.44 and a 12-month high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lam Research will post 35.2 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 33.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 16,200 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $1,712,323.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,535,456.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total transaction of $528,928.97. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 16,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $1,712,323.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at $5,535,456.63. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lam Research by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,856,661 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,519,576,000 after acquiring an additional 144,914 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Lam Research by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,973,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,329,037,000 after acquiring an additional 86,721 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Lam Research by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,959,151 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,875,023,000 after acquiring an additional 142,903 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Lam Research by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,254,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,335,522,000 after buying an additional 89,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Lam Research by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,075,893 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,145,664,000 after buying an additional 107,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

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.