Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Trading Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) traded down 0.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $72.15 and last traded at $72.54. 1,548,428 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 11,114,733 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on LRCX shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Lam Research from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lam Research from $1,000.00 to $880.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.28.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $80.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.44.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.05. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Lam Research’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.38%.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In related news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 $3,488,315.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Symmetry Investments LP acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,229,000. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new position in Lam Research in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,182,000. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Lam Research by 68.7% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 35,991 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,372,000 after buying an additional 14,658 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,489,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 120,736 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $98,530,000 after buying an additional 33,489 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.