Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $76.00 to $78.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 0.13% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on LRCX. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.34.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LRCX opened at $77.90 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Lam Research has a 52 week low of $68.87 and a 52 week high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 50.60%. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Lam Research will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 13.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dantai Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Lam Research by 44.6% in the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 1,815 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Lam Research during the third quarter worth approximately $362,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Lam Research by 22.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 409.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 37,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,538,000 after purchasing an additional 30,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Lam Research by 383.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,547 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,711,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

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.