Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $83.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company's stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on LRCX. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas raised Lam Research to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Lam Research from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.24.

Lam Research Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Lam Research stock traded up $1.38 on Friday, hitting $76.59. 8,327,931 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,409,202. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.25. Lam Research has a one year low of $68.87 and a one year high of $113.00. The company has a market capitalization of $98.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lam Research will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.74%.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In related news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 13.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Lam Research during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 52.2% in the second quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 35 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lam Research during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Country Trust Bank bought a new position in Lam Research during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company's stock.

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.