Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $74.79, but opened at $71.65. Lam Research shares last traded at $72.26, with a volume of 888,784 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LRCX has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lam Research to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho cut their price target on Lam Research from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Lam Research from $81.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Lam Research from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.03.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $90.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $77.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.12.

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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In related news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 13.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 15,005,178 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,856,661 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $11,519,576,000 after buying an additional 144,914 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Lam Research by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,886,676 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,817,113,000 after buying an additional 94,086 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Lam Research by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,959,151 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,875,023,000 after buying an additional 142,903 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Lam Research by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,871,473 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,527,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,093 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lam Research

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.