Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $254.00 to $260.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LRCX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 target price (up from $260.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citic Securities increased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $165.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $175.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.54.

Lam Research Stock Performance

NASDAQ LRCX opened at $220.65 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Lam Research has a 12-month low of $56.32 and a 12-month high of $256.68. The firm has a market cap of $275.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.22, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.78.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.10. Lam Research had a net margin of 30.22% and a return on equity of 62.81%. The business had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Lam Research has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lam Research will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.31%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In related news, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 50,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.03, for a total value of $11,214,269.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,081,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,334,371.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Eric Brandt sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.60, for a total transaction of $7,896,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 253,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,235,848. The trade was a 12.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 130,886 shares of company stock worth $29,658,802. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $3,645,427,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Lam Research by 352.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,695,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,344,347,000 after buying an additional 10,666,540 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Lam Research by 781.3% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,340,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,518,542,000 after buying an additional 10,053,978 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Lam Research by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,110,560 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,730,724,000 after buying an additional 3,671,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 235.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,199,441 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $890,040,000 after buying an additional 3,649,553 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Founded in 1980 by David K. Lam and headquartered in Fremont, California, the company develops and manufactures systems used in multiple stages of semiconductor device production, including thin film deposition, plasma etch, wafer cleaning and related process modules and automation.

Lam’s product portfolio covers core process technologies employed by logic and memory manufacturers, with equipment designed to support advanced-node patterning, 3D NAND and other emerging device architectures.