Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Trading Down 1.2% – Time to Sell?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s stock price dropped 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $298.56 and last traded at $307.28. 9,107,479 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 10,898,552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $310.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LRCX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $425.00 target price on Lam Research in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Bank of America increased their price target on Lam Research from $330.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.81.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $305.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.62. The company has a market capitalization of $384.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.35, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The semiconductor company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 67.60% and a net margin of 31.27%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Lam Research has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.000-2.300 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 18.06%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.74, for a total transaction of $3,007,970.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,995 shares in the company, valued at $6,607,966.30. The trade was a 31.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Abhijit Talwalkar sold 18,282 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $6,124,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 87,142 shares in the company, valued at $29,192,570. This represents a 17.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 32,839 shares of company stock worth $10,644,740 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Andra AP fonden raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 6.0% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 189,539 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,133,000 after buying an additional 10,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Lam Research by 2.6% during the 2nd 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. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA increased its stake in Lam Research by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 15,734 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,818,000 after acquiring an additional 3,140 shares during the period. Wellington Altus USA Inc. raised its holdings in Lam Research by 39.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 1,686 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas acquired a new position in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at $280,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation is a semiconductor equipment company that develops and manufactures systems used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. Its equipment supports key wafer-processing steps, including deposition, etch, wafer cleaning, and related processes used to create and connect the microscopic features found on semiconductor devices.

The company serves semiconductor manufacturers producing a range of products, including memory, logic, and specialty chips. In addition to manufacturing equipment, Lam Research provides installation, maintenance, spare parts, upgrades, technical support, and other services intended to help customers operate and improve their fabrication facilities.

Founded in 1980, Lam Research is headquartered in Fremont, California, and serves customers through a global network of offices, engineering facilities, and support operations.