Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys 4,950 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 900.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,950 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in Lam Research were worth $397,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its holdings in Lam Research by 908.8% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Country Trust Bank boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LRCX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lam Research from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna raised Lam Research from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. KeyCorp raised shares of Lam Research from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Lam Research from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lam Research news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Lam Research Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $79.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $101.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.14 and a 200-day moving average of $77.82. Lam Research Co. has a one year low of $68.87 and a one year high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 51.86%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research's payout ratio is 27.96%.

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.

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