Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price Up 6.1% – What’s Next?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) was up 6.1% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $241.60 and last traded at $235.88. 10,912,856 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 10,971,823 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LRCX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Lam Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (down from $450.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank restated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.57.

Lam Research Trading Up 6.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $294.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $281.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.65.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.60 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is 19.67%.

Lam Research declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase $25 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.74, for a total transaction of $3,007,970.18. Following the sale, the director owned 20,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,607,966.30. This trade represents a 31.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ava Harter sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 42,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,843,056.52. This trade represents a 10.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 14,573 shares of company stock valued at $4,523,606 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Polaris Financial Partners bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the third quarter worth about $4,814,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 5.5% in the second 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. Rokos Capital Management LLP boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 42.0% in the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 259,921 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $55,532,000 after acquiring an additional 76,840 shares during the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in Lam Research during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $59,973,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Lam Research by 50.7% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,383 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,987,000 after purchasing an additional 12,574 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lam Research

Lam Research is a global supplier of equipment and services used to manufacture semiconductors. Its products help chipmakers create and process the microscopic structures that form integrated circuits. The company’s wafer fabrication equipment is used for processes including etch, thin-film deposition and wafer cleaning. Lam also provides services such as equipment maintenance, upgrades, spare parts and other support for chip manufacturing operations. Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Fremont, California, Lam Research serves semiconductor manufacturers around the world.