Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price Up 8.3% on Strong Earnings

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s stock price traded up 8.3% during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $81.28 and last traded at $81.36. 11,872,303 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 11,942,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.15.

The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LRCX has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lam Research from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp upgraded Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.72.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 175.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 88 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC bought a new position in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter worth $256,000. Sunflower Bank N.A. bought a new position in Lam Research in the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Insight Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Lam Research in the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Trading Up 7.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.72 and a 200 day moving average of $78.93. The company has a market capitalization of $103.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.53.

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.