Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Falls 16.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) dropped 16.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $184.24 and last traded at $185.4150. 31,024,104 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 185% from the average daily volume of 10,869,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LRCX. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Berenberg Bank set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $435.00 price target (down from $450.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.23.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $289.28 and its 200-day moving average is $283.97. The company has a market capitalization of $231.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.14 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 72.15% and a net margin of 32.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 54.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 23rd. This is a positive change from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.67%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In related news, insider Ava Harter sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total value of $1,512,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,843,056.52. This represents a 10.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,607,966.30. The trade was a 31.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,704,130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,320,468,000 after buying an additional 1,545,830 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,244,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,872,426,000 after acquiring an additional 584,489 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 411.8% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,089,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,805,368,000 after acquiring an additional 8,922,854 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Lam Research in the second quarter worth about $3,777,585,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Lam Research by 23.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 10,147,479 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,168,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942,862 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is a semiconductor equipment company that develops and manufactures systems used to fabricate integrated circuits. Its technologies support key stages of wafer processing, helping semiconductor manufacturers create the increasingly complex structures found in memory, logic and other types of chips.

The company’s product portfolio includes etch systems, which selectively remove materials from wafers; deposition systems, which apply thin films; and cleaning solutions used to remove contaminants and residue during manufacturing.