Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Sells 4,294 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lessened its stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,294 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $47,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cypress Capital Group increased its holdings in Lam Research by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 3,528 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,757,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,022 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 142.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 474 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 534.3% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,930,000 after buying an additional 4,691 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LRCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Lam Research from $1,250.00 to $1,150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Lam Research from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $990.00 to $893.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six equities 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,062.26, for a total value of $687,282.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,219,945.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Lam Research news, CEO Timothy Archer sold 9,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,070.39, for a total value of $10,329,263.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,596,739.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,062.26, for a total transaction of $687,282.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,914 shares in the company, valued at $5,219,945.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,715. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $766.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $855.19 and its 200 day moving average is $929.39. Lam Research Co. has a fifty-two week low of $574.42 and a fifty-two week high of $1,130.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.97.

Lam Research’s stock is set to split on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.58 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.68% and a return on equity of 48.71%. The business’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 35.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a boost from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.84%.

Lam Research declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.