Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Up 3.2% - Still a Buy?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $86.30 and last traded at $85.57. Approximately 2,012,349 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 10,917,576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LRCX. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Lam Research from $92.90 to $77.40 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Lam Research from $1,000.00 to $880.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $141.28.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.15, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.14.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.68% and a return on equity of 48.71%. Lam Research's revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.38%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new position in Lam Research during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,182,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 47,377 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $38,664,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Lam Research by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 73,408 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $59,907,000 after buying an additional 8,302 shares during the last quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $492,000. Finally, Polianta Ltd acquired a new position in Lam Research during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,142,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.