Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Down to $769.72

Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $769.72, but opened at $751.46. Lam Research shares last traded at $750.40, with a volume of 32,810 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on LRCX. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Lam Research from $1,250.00 to $1,150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price target on Lam Research from $865.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,015.63.

Lam Research Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $98.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $868.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $932.18.

Lam Research’s stock is going to split on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.58 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The business’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 35.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a boost from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 33.84%.

Lam Research declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total transaction of $4,654,845.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,239,346.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total value of $1,712,323.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,237 shares in the company, valued at $5,535,456.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,715. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Lam Research during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 52.2% in the second quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 35 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research during the second quarter worth $43,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Company 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.