Verity & Verity LLC Boosts Holdings in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 900.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,900 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 3,510 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Lam Research were worth $282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LRCX. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Lam Research by 1,394.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $13,123,440,000 after buying an additional 15,005,178 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Lam Research in the 4th quarter worth about $175,652,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. raised its position in Lam Research by 886.9% in the fourth quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 349,792 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,266,000 after purchasing an additional 314,349 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 950.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,979 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $20,151,000 after purchasing an additional 252,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 215.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 341,900 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $279,018,000 after purchasing an additional 233,500 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LRCX traded up $1.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.30. 10,347,143 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,876,011. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.45. Lam Research Co. has a 52-week low of $68.87 and a 52-week high of $113.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.73 and a 200-day moving average of $80.81.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 50.60%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.85 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Lam Research's payout ratio is 29.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LRCX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lam Research to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lam Research from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.77.

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.