Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price Up 0.7% - Still a Buy?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 0.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $74.23 and last traded at $73.66. 4,476,030 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 11,081,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Lam Research from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $113.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lam Research from $1,000.00 to $880.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $141.28.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $80.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.66. The firm has a market cap of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. Lam Research's quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total transaction of $528,928.97. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Symmetry Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,229,000. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new position in Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,182,000. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Lam Research during the second quarter worth about $1,489,000. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Lam Research by 893.3% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 14,522 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $11,851,000 after acquiring an additional 13,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Lam Research by 38.4% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 120,736 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $98,530,000 after purchasing an additional 33,489 shares during the period. 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.