Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price Up 3% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) were up 3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $328.32 and last traded at $323.86. Approximately 7,834,724 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 10,843,605 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LRCX. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Lam Research from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (down from $450.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.14.

Lam Research Trading Up 2.7%

The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $422.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.42, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $304.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.04.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The semiconductor company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.13. Lam Research had a return on equity of 67.60% and a net margin of 31.27%.The company had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.66 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Lam Research’s quarterly revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. Lam Research has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.000-2.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.74, for a total value of $3,007,970.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,607,966.30. This represents a 31.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 18,282 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $6,124,470.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 87,142 shares in the company, valued at $29,192,570. This represents a 17.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,839 shares of company stock valued at $10,644,740. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Lam Research by 2.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,704,130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,320,468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545,830 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,821,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,906,559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638,406 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,349,470 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,285,162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008,605 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 5.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,244,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,872,426,000 after purchasing an additional 584,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 411.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,089,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,805,368,000 after purchasing an additional 8,922,854 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation is a semiconductor equipment company that designs, manufactures, and services systems used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other electronic devices. Its equipment supports key steps in the wafer manufacturing process, helping semiconductor producers create increasingly small and complex features on silicon wafers.

The company’s portfolio includes systems for etch, deposition, wafer cleaning, surface preparation, and related manufacturing processes.