Prudential PLC Buys 275,604 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 1,839.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 290,589 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 275,604 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Lam Research were worth $20,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Lam Research by 5.7% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,216,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 112.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 427 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Lam Research by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,922 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,465,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its holdings in Lam Research by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 9,911 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,088,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lam Research Stock Up 1.7 %

LRCX traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.26. 4,482,623 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,932,597. Lam Research Co. has a one year low of $56.32 and a one year high of $113.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.54. The company's fifty day moving average price is $77.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.73. The company has a market cap of $78.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.52.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. As a group, analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Lam Research's payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LRCX. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Lam Research from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lam Research from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.59.

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.