Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Raises Stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,884 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $53,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Lam Research Price Performance

LRCX opened at $75.21 on Friday. Lam Research Co. has a 12-month low of $68.87 and a 12-month high of $113.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.25. The company has a market cap of $96.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on LRCX shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 research report on Thursday, October 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,488,315.17. This represents a 13.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lam Research 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.