Flputnam Investment Management Co. Acquires 408,635 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 651.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 471,389 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 408,635 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $34,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Lam Research by 1,394.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,123,440,000 after acquiring an additional 15,005,178 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 860.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,200,000. Swedbank AB increased its position in Lam Research by 1,488.8% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,069,002 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $221,674,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lam Research by 827.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,160,523 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $228,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

LRCX stock opened at $76.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $98.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.09. Lam Research Co. has a 1-year low of $68.87 and a 1-year high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $9,907,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna raised Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lam Research has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.22.

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.