Highland Capital Management LLC Invests $237,000 in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 223 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lam Research by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,856,661 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,519,576,000 after purchasing an additional 144,914 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Lam Research by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,973,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,329,037,000 after acquiring an additional 86,721 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Lam Research by 5.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,959,151 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,875,023,000 after purchasing an additional 142,903 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at $1,414,111,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 968,115 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $940,592,000 after buying an additional 191,230 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LRCX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $1,025.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $1,130.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $865.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lam Research has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,006.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total value of $1,712,323.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,535,456.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,062.26, for a total value of $687,282.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,219,945.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total transaction of $1,712,323.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,237 shares in the company, valued at $5,535,456.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,715 over the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lam Research Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ LRCX traded up $11.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $847.37. 1,067,121 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,071,567. The company has a market cap of $110.79 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Lam Research Co. has a 52 week low of $574.42 and a 52 week high of $1,130.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $955.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $946.76.

Lam Research shares are set to split on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.58 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 35.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.