Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

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

LRCX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Lam Research from $975.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Lam Research from $975.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a hold rating and a $1,000.00 price target for the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Lam Research from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Lam Research from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $870.00 to $1,100.00 in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $950.85.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of Lam Research stock opened at $925.37 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $943.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $809.10. Lam Research has a 12 month low of $493.42 and a 12 month high of $1,007.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a PEG ratio of 3.20 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 2.02.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.26 by $0.53. Lam Research had a return on equity of 45.96% and a net margin of 25.35%. The business had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Lam Research will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

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

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP raised its stake in Lam Research by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 613 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank raised its stake in Lam Research by 1.5% in the first quarter. Busey Bank now owns 869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network raised its stake in Lam Research by 2.5% in the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 525 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.