Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $95.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LRCX. Wolfe Research cut Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho upped their price target on Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lam Research presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.06.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $75.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. Lam Research has a 1-year low of $68.87 and a 1-year high of $113.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.28.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. Equities analysts predict that Lam Research 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 908.8% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 900.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

About Lam Research

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.