Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $241.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Lam Research traded as high as $236.31 and last traded at $236.5240, with a volume of 2097043 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $222.87.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $250.00 target price on Lam Research and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $260.00 price objective on Lam Research in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lam Research presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.81.

Insider Activity

In other Lam Research news, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 40,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.60, for a total transaction of $6,036,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 987,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,677,892.20. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bethany Mayer sold 1,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.99, for a total value of $207,667.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,303.48. This represents a 44.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,408 shares of company stock valued at $6,248,501. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Lam Research during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Stance Capital LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Lam Research during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Lam Research in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Trading Up 6.2%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $179.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $297.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.77.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

Lam Research Company Profile

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.