Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Makes New $374.99 Million Investment in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 5,191,653 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,993,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 892.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,787,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,724,498,000 after acquiring an additional 108,619,564 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 892.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,578,181 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,341,902,000 after acquiring an additional 16,706,708 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 7,601.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 12,945,172 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $990,464,000 after acquiring an additional 12,777,094 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 860.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,786,808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $851,361,000 after purchasing an additional 10,559,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lam Research by 931.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,482,429 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $612,686,000 after purchasing an additional 7,659,830 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Lam Research stock opened at $76.14 on Thursday. Lam Research Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.87 and a fifty-two week high of $113.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $97.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on LRCX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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, January 30th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.06.

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.