Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Up 2.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) traded up 2.1% during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $244.00 to $254.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lam Research traded as high as $256.68 and last traded at $249.48. 9,417,542 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 12,522,450 shares. The stock had previously closed at $244.25.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed 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. UBS Group set a $300.00 price objective on Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Lam Research from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on Lam Research from $195.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $175.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In related news, Director Eric Brandt sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.60, for a total transaction of $7,896,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 253,705 shares in the company, valued at $57,235,848. This trade represents a 12.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1,032.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,189 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 12,936 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research in the 1st quarter valued at $239,000. Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in Lam Research by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lam Research by 528.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,123 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after buying an additional 19,445 shares during the period. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 742.9% during the second quarter. Solstein Capital LLC now owns 590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $311.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.12, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.78.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $5.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 21.31%.

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.