Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 20,310 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 1,500.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,664 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,310 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Lam Research were worth $1,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 5.6% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 300 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Lam Research by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 907 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 7.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 380 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.4% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 2,074 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 175.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 88 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company's stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX traded up $1.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $81.56. 7,399,510 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,703,310. Lam Research Co. has a 52-week low of $68.87 and a 52-week high of $113.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.81 and a 200 day moving average of $80.43. 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 company has a market cap of $104.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.45.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.85 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LRCX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (down from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Lam Research from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.77.

Lam Research 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.