William Blair Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 296,781 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 41,379 shares during the quarter. Lam Research makes up about 0.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.23% of Lam Research worth $316,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Lam Research by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,856,661 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $11,519,576,000 after purchasing an additional 144,914 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,973,516 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,329,037,000 after buying an additional 86,721 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Lam Research by 5.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,959,151 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,875,023,000 after buying an additional 142,903 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at $1,414,111,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Lam Research by 11.1% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,075,893 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,145,664,000 after acquiring an additional 107,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total value of $1,712,323.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,535,456.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total value of $1,712,323.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,535,456.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,062.26, for a total transaction of $687,282.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,219,945.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,326 shares of company stock worth $17,383,715 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LRCX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lam Research from $865.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $1,000.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $1,025.00 to $990.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,006.10.

Lam Research Stock Up 2.9 %

LRCX traded up $21.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $769.72. 871,548 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,086,911. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $868.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $932.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.97. Lam Research Co. has a 1 year low of $574.42 and a 1 year high of $1,130.00.

Shares of Lam Research are set to split on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.58 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 35.2 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a boost from Lam Research's previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Lam Research's payout ratio is presently 29.42%.

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.