Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Lam Research Call Options (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 34,219 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 12% compared to the average daily volume of 30,525 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total transaction of $528,928.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 13.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 20.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 238,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $194,451,000 after purchasing an additional 39,725 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Lam Research by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 47,377 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,664,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Lam Research by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 35,991 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,372,000 after buying an additional 14,658 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 340,855 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $278,165,000 after acquiring an additional 28,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,182,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LRCX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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 reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lam Research currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.29.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $78.34 on Wednesday. Lam Research has a one year low of $68.72 and a one year high of $113.00. The stock has a market cap of $100.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.85 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lam Research will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

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.