Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $75.20, but opened at $72.75. Lam Research shares last traded at $71.79, with a volume of 2,231,706 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Lam Research from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lam Research from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.24.

Lam Research Trading Down 5.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.53. The firm has a market cap of $91.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.46. The company's 50-day moving average is $75.50 and its 200-day moving average is $84.97.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 50.60%. Lam Research's revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.85 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio is 29.77%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This represents a 13.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 35 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 24.0% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 62 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Tobam bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Lam Research by 175.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 88 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp boosted its position in Lam Research by 163.4% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 108 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.