Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $98.22.

LRCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 908.8% during the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Lam Research by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of LRCX opened at $76.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. Lam Research has a 1-year low of $68.87 and a 1-year high of $113.00.

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

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

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.