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

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $884.89, but opened at $909.33. Lam Research shares last traded at $905.51, with a volume of 288,362 shares trading hands.

The semiconductor company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.26 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 24.15% and a return on equity of 44.47%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.99 earnings per share.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is 30.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LRCX shares. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $880.00 to $850.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $825.00 to $865.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,030.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $950.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total value of $5,073,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total transaction of $5,073,255.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 22,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $857,330.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,246,168.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,029 shares of company stock worth $6,559,489 over the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,711,747 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,173,343,000 after purchasing an additional 79,581 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Lam Research by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,973,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,329,037,000 after acquiring an additional 86,721 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,857,918 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,164,490,000 after acquiring an additional 56,824 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth about $1,414,111,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 10.8% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,642,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,029,386,000 after purchasing an additional 159,815 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $118.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $943.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $807.04.

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.