Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $11.69 Million Holdings in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 956.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,805 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 146,494 shares during the period. Lam Research makes up approximately 1.0% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $11,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lam Research by 892.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,787,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,724,498,000 after purchasing an additional 108,619,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,661,672,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 892.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,578,181 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,341,902,000 after purchasing an additional 16,706,708 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Lam Research by 7,601.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 12,945,172 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $990,464,000 after purchasing an additional 12,777,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 860.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,786,808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $851,361,000 after buying an additional 10,559,508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LRCX shares. KeyCorp raised Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upgraded Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,117,560. The trade was a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Price Performance

Lam Research stock opened at $74.81 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.54. Lam Research Co. has a 1 year low of $68.87 and a 1 year high of $113.00. The company has a market capitalization of $96.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 51.86%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.96%.

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.