Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Short Interest Down 14.4% in September

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, a decrease of 14.4% from the August 31st total of 2,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LRCX. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, August 1st. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $1,130.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com lowered Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $929.00 to $774.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,012.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total transaction of $1,712,323.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,237 shares in the company, valued at $5,535,456.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. RFP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 52.2% during the second quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 35 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lam Research during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Country Trust Bank acquired a new position in Lam Research during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $827.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $108.14 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $817.83 and a 200-day moving average of $920.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 2.00. Lam Research has a one year low of $574.42 and a one year high of $1,130.00.

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

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.58 by $0.56. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.68% and a return on equity of 48.71%. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 33.84%.

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.