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

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 109,479 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 278% compared to the typical volume of 28,929 call options.

Lam Research Trading Down 0.8%

LRCX opened at $92.66 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $78.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.45. The firm has a market cap of $118.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.65. Lam Research has a twelve month low of $56.32 and a twelve month high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 27.18% and a return on equity of 53.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lam Research will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 25.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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, April 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Lam Research from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Lam Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.30.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its stake in 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. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.