Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $71.57, but opened at $73.85. Lam Research shares last traded at $74.40, with a volume of 1,005,047 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LRCX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Lam Research from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Lam Research Stock Up 5.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $97.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.79.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.85 EPS. Lam Research’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This represents a 13.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Lam Research by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 63 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank lifted its holdings in Lam Research by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $865,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 3.7% during the second quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 335 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 52.2% during the second quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 35 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Company 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.