Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Climb 2.6% – Still a Buy?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s stock price rose 2.6% during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $317.13 and last traded at $315.21. Approximately 6,947,916 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 10,852,460 shares. The stock had previously closed at $307.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $355.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Lam Research from $330.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 target price on Lam Research and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $425.00 price target on Lam Research in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.81.

Lam Research Stock Up 2.6%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $304.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $298.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.63. The firm has a market cap of $394.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.85.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The semiconductor company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.66 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 31.27% and a return on equity of 67.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Lam Research has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.000-2.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.06%.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In other news, insider Ava Harter sold 5,000 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,512,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,843,056.52. The trade was a 10.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.74, for a total value of $3,007,970.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,607,966.30. The trade was a 31.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 32,839 shares of company stock valued at $10,644,740 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,645,427,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 411.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,089,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,805,368,000 after buying an additional 8,922,854 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research during the second quarter worth about $3,777,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Lam Research by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,110,560 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,730,724,000 after acquiring an additional 3,671,073 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 235.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,199,441 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $890,040,000 after acquiring an additional 3,649,553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation is a semiconductor equipment company that develops and manufactures systems used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. Its equipment supports key wafer-processing steps, including deposition, etch, wafer cleaning, and related processes used to create and connect the microscopic features found on semiconductor devices.

The company serves semiconductor manufacturers producing a range of products, including memory, logic, and specialty chips. In addition to manufacturing equipment, Lam Research provides installation, maintenance, spare parts, upgrades, technical support, and other services intended to help customers operate and improve their fabrication facilities.

Founded in 1980, Lam Research is headquartered in Fremont, California, and serves customers through a global network of offices, engineering facilities, and support operations.