Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Buys 2,700 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 900.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lam Research by 892.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,787,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,724,498,000 after acquiring an additional 108,619,564 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1,032.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,031,194 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,891,453,000 after acquiring an additional 36,496,689 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Lam Research by 950.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,543,915 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,495,128,000 after acquiring an additional 31,255,726 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lam Research by 907.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,428,010 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,265,610,000 after acquiring an additional 28,307,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $1,661,672,000. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $84.43 on Monday. Lam Research Co. has a one year low of $56.32 and a one year high of $113.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.79 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Lam Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Lam Research from $96.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.56.

About Lam Research

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.