Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 6,048 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 900.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,720 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,048 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Lam Research by 892.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,787,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,724,498,000 after buying an additional 108,619,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth about $1,661,672,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 892.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,578,181 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,341,902,000 after purchasing an additional 16,706,708 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 7,601.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 12,945,172 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $990,464,000 after purchasing an additional 12,777,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 860.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,786,808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $851,361,000 after buying an additional 10,559,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $9,907,200.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp raised Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wolfe Research lowered Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.59.

Lam Research Trading Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ LRCX opened at $72.61 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $93.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. Lam Research Co. has a 52 week low of $68.87 and a 52 week high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) 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 net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 51.86%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

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.