Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Trading 2.3% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price traded up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $241.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Lam Research traded as high as $225.35 and last traded at $222.87. 10,138,137 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 13,777,654 shares. The stock had previously closed at $217.94.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LRCX. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $210.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.81.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 40,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.60, for a total transaction of $6,036,048.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 987,237 shares in the company, valued at $148,677,892.20. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bethany Mayer sold 1,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.99, for a total transaction of $207,667.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,303.48. The trade was a 44.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,408 shares of company stock worth $6,248,501. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,894,585,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Lam Research by 781.3% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,340,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,518,542,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053,978 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Lam Research by 14.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 40,622,437 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,954,188,000 after buying an additional 5,102,589 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,182,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,836,397,000 after buying an additional 3,263,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,594,574 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,029,210,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $279.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $178.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Founded in 1980 by David K. Lam and headquartered in Fremont, California, the company develops and manufactures systems used in multiple stages of semiconductor device production, including thin film deposition, plasma etch, wafer cleaning and related process modules and automation.

Lam’s product portfolio covers core process technologies employed by logic and memory manufacturers, with equipment designed to support advanced-node patterning, 3D NAND and other emerging device architectures.