Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Up 3.2% – Still a Buy?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s stock price rose 3.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $226.71 and last traded at $226.47. Approximately 9,932,719 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 12,004,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $219.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. New Street Research increased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $195.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Susquehanna set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $181.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.35.

Lam Research Stock Up 3.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $282.81 billion, a PE ratio of 46.41, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $225.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.48.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 62.81% and a net margin of 30.22%.The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Lam Research has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.450 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 21.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ava Harter sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.50, for a total value of $930,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 54,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,718,912.50. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 50,057 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.03, for a total value of $11,214,269.71. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,081,705 shares in the company, valued at $242,334,371.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 130,886 shares of company stock valued at $29,658,802 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 16,208 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,774,000 after purchasing an additional 4,086 shares in the last quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,000. DUTCH ASSET Corp bought a new position in Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $598,000. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at $386,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at $230,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lam Research

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.