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

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,013.37.

A number of equities analysts have commented on LRCX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $929.00 to $774.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $865.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th.

Lam Research Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $789.07 on Friday. Lam Research has a 12-month low of $574.42 and a 12-month high of $1,130.00. The company has a market capitalization of $103.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $842.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $927.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Lam Research shares are scheduled to split on the morning of Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.58 by $0.56. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.68% and a return on equity of 48.71%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Lam Research will post 35.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is a positive change from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.84%.

Insider Activity

In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total transaction of $4,654,845.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $5,219,945.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,715 over the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cypress Capital Group grew its holdings in Lam Research by 23.1% during 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 during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Lam Research by 142.6% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,705,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 14.5% in the second 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 grew its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 534.3% during the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,930,000 after buying an additional 4,691 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.