Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Falls 6% – Time to Sell?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s stock price traded down 6% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $232.61 and last traded at $239.11. 18,587,853 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 72% from the average daily volume of 10,791,091 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LRCX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lam Research from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on Lam Research from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, October 19th. Evercore set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.23.

Lam Research Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $298.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $295.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $283.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.14 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 32.34% and a return on equity of 72.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 54.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd were given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 23rd. This is a positive change from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ava Harter sold 5,000 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total transaction of $1,512,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,843,056.52. This trade represents a 10.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.74, for a total transaction of $3,007,970.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,607,966.30. This represents a 31.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Polaris Financial Partners bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,814,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 5.5% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,244,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,872,426,000 after purchasing an additional 584,489 shares during the period. Rokos Capital Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 42.0% in the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 259,921 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $55,532,000 after acquiring an additional 76,840 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 1st quarter worth approximately $59,973,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Lam Research in the 1st quarter worth about $26,489,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is a semiconductor equipment company that develops and manufactures systems used to fabricate integrated circuits. Its technologies support key stages of wafer processing, helping semiconductor manufacturers create the increasingly complex structures found in memory, logic and other types of chips.

The company’s product portfolio includes etch systems, which selectively remove materials from wafers; deposition systems, which apply thin films; and cleaning solutions used to remove contaminants and residue during manufacturing.