Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $68.44, but opened at $65.24. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lam Research shares last traded at $66.79, with a volume of 1,549,466 shares.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LRCX. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Lam Research from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction 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 $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Lam Research by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 300,193 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,824,000 after buying an additional 36,825 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 78,341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,713,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Lam Research during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,601,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,716 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Stock Down 4.8 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $83.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.52.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

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.