Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $74.79, but opened at $71.65. Lam Research shares last traded at $72.26, with a volume of 888,784 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lam Research from $81.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. B. Riley cut their price target on Lam Research from $132.50 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.03.

Lam Research Trading Down 5.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $91.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $77.34 and a 200-day moving average of $88.12.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 50.60%. The company’s revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 13.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 1,394.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,123,440,000 after buying an additional 15,005,178 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Lam Research by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,856,661 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,519,576,000 after purchasing an additional 144,914 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Lam Research by 5.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 142,903 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,871,473 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,527,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 7.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,254,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,335,522,000 after buying an additional 89,470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

About Lam Research

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.