Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Has Average Price Target of $360.23

Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $360.23.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $339.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (down from $425.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lam Research news, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,607,966.30. This represents a 31.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ava Harter sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total value of $1,512,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,843,056.52. The trade was a 10.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 360.8% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 576 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Lam Research by 5.3% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 22,772 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co increased its holdings in Lam Research by 4.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 4,704 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lam Research in the third quarter valued at about $168,000. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 4.1% in the third quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 18,011 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,923,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of Lam Research stock opened at $239.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $298.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.86. Lam Research has a 52-week low of $135.50 and a 52-week high of $438.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $283.78.

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

Lam Research Increases Dividend

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

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.