Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Trading Up 1.9% – Still a Buy?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) rose 1.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $75.64 and last traded at $75.25. Approximately 2,097,330 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 11,212,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LRCX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.03.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $96.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.21.

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

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $528,928.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the second quarter worth $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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research in the second quarter worth $40,000. Country Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lam Research during the second quarter valued at $45,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.