Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Trading Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price was up 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $75.35 and last traded at $74.54. Approximately 1,649,137 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 11,252,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LRCX shares. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lam Research from $81.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lam Research from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Lam Research from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.03.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.99. The company has a market capitalization of $96.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.48.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.85 earnings per share. Lam Research’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lam Research by 29.9% during the third quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC now owns 18,265 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,906,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Lam Research by 6.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 31,432 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,651,000 after buying an additional 1,879 shares in the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its position in Lam Research by 899.7% during the third quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 3,919 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,198,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Bray Capital Advisors lifted its position in Lam Research by 18.1% during the third quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 2,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,177,000 after buying an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lam Research by 319.4% during the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 7,389 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,030,000 after buying an additional 5,627 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.