Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $385.00 and last traded at $388.2960, with a volume of 191847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lam Research from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $350.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. New Street Research increased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $425.00 price target on shares of Lam Research and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.26.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $483.36 billion, a PE ratio of 72.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $286.10 and its 200-day moving average is $234.16.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.11. Lam Research had a net margin of 30.94% and a return on equity of 66.21%. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Lam Research has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lam Research Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 17th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.62%.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In other news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 7,659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.60, for a total transaction of $2,371,226.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 58,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,102,312. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ava Harter sold 6,010 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.66, for a total transaction of $1,554,546.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 53,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,762,005.30. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 31,839 shares of company stock worth $8,561,667 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth about $10,035,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its position in Lam Research by 62.0% in the 4th quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 36,274 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,209,000 after acquiring an additional 13,878 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its position in Lam Research by 115.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 22,198 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 11,883 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,974,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $17,537,447,000 after acquiring an additional 364,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the third quarter worth about $1,229,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Founded in 1980 by David K. Lam and headquartered in Fremont, California, the company develops and manufactures systems used in multiple stages of semiconductor device production, including thin film deposition, plasma etch, wafer cleaning and related process modules and automation.

Lam’s product portfolio covers core process technologies employed by logic and memory manufacturers, with equipment designed to support advanced-node patterning, 3D NAND and other emerging device architectures.