Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $74.14, but opened at $76.46. Lam Research shares last traded at $74.79, with a volume of 2,443,741 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LRCX. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Lam Research from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Lam Research from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lam Research from $92.90 to $77.40 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $113.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.28.

Lam Research Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.53. The company has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.68, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.47.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.05. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.68% and a return on equity of 48.71%. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.38%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total transaction of $528,928.97. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Lam Research by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 35 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Country Trust Bank purchased a new position in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.