Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $68.44, but opened at $65.24. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lam Research shares last traded at $66.79, with a volume of 1,549,466 shares trading hands.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Lam Research from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp upgraded Lam Research from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lam Research presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.87.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 908.8% during the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 900.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company's stock.

Lam Research Trading Down 2.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.79 and a 200 day moving average of $75.96. The stock has a market cap of $81.85 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.