Renaissance Technologies LLC Invests $48.30 Million in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 45,356 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,297,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth $476,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Lam Research by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 210,934 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $165,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,052 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,231,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 22,040 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LRCX shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Lam Research from $990.00 to $893.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Lam Research from $929.00 to $774.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $1,130.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,857 shares in the company, valued at $7,239,346.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Lam Research news, CEO Timothy Archer sold 9,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,070.39, for a total value of $10,329,263.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,639 shares in the company, valued at $90,596,739.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,326 shares of company stock worth $17,383,715 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of LRCX opened at $766.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $855.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $929.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.97. Lam Research Co. has a fifty-two week low of $574.42 and a fifty-two week high of $1,130.00.

Shares of Lam Research are going to split on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.58 by $0.56. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 35.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. Lam Research’s payout ratio is presently 33.84%.

Lam Research declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.