Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $74.51, but opened at $77.45. Lam Research shares last traded at $75.23, with a volume of 3,161,825 shares traded.

The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 52.58%.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 27.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LRCX. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Lam Research from $132.50 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.72.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1,394.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,123,440,000 after buying an additional 15,005,178 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Lam Research by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,886,676 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,817,113,000 after purchasing an additional 94,086 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lam Research by 827.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,160,523 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $228,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819,668 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,120,511 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,539,413,000 after purchasing an additional 64,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Lam Research by 1,488.8% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,069,002 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $221,674,000 after acquiring an additional 2,875,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $103.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.45.

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.