Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning. The firm currently has $109.00 price target on the stock.
According to Zacks, “Lam Research Corp. is a leading global provider of innovative wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. The company reported better-than-expected fiscal first quarter 2017 results with earnings surpassing our estimates. The results were driven by strong success in the areas of device architecture, process flow and advanced packaging technology inflections. The company terminated its proposed acquisition of California-based KLA-Tencor, following antitrust objections from the Justice Department. The company has been improving on WFE market share significantly since 2013 and expects to continue making gains, going forward. At the same time, the persistent decline in the PC market, which is still the most important consumer of DRAMs, the competitive climate and currency effects remain concerns. The Brexit impact cannot be ignored either.”
A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on LRCX. B. Riley reissued a buy rating and set a $106.00 target price on shares of Lam Research Corp. in a research report on Tuesday, August 2nd. DA Davidson reissued a buy rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Lam Research Corp. in a research report on Monday, August 15th. RBC Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Lam Research Corp. in a research report on Thursday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $105.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Lam Research Corp. in a research note on Thursday, July 28th. Finally, Pacific Crest lifted their target price on Lam Research Corp. from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $105.38.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) traded up 1.07% during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.65. 303,371 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. Lam Research Corp. has a 1-year low of $63.10 and a 1-year high of $102.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $95.16 and its 200 day moving average is $87.04. The stock has a market cap of $15.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.47.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 19th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.03. The firm earned $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Lam Research Corp. had a net margin of 15.02% and a return on equity of 18.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lam Research Corp. will post $7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 14th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Lam Research Corp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.86%.
In other news, insider Richard A. Gottscho sold 47,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.85, for a total value of $4,699,329.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Lam Research Corp. by 3.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,373,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,477,000 after buying an additional 198,861 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Lam Research Corp. by 68.5% in the first quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 23,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,917,000 after buying an additional 9,431 shares in the last quarter. Riverhead Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lam Research Corp. by 24.8% in the first quarter. Riverhead Capital Management LLC now owns 131,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,902,000 after buying an additional 26,199 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in Lam Research Corp. by 7.9% in the first quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 35,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,000 after buying an additional 2,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lam Research Corp. by 3.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,345,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,924,000 after buying an additional 39,093 shares in the last quarter.
About Lam Research Corp.
Lam Research Corporation is a supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. The Company designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes and services semiconductor processing systems that are used in the fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs). It operates through manufacturing and servicing of wafer processing semiconductor manufacturing equipment segment.