Sterling Capital Management LLC Acquires 90,578 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 1,733.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,578 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $6,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its position in Lam Research by 908.8% in the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its position in Lam Research by 836.6% during the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LRCX. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Lam Research from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.87.

Lam Research Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LRCX opened at $67.48 on Friday. Lam Research Co. has a 12-month low of $56.32 and a 12-month high of $113.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.49.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 27.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lam Research news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,117,560. The trade was a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lam Research 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.