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

Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) were up 2.1% 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. Approximately 9,417,542 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 12,522,450 shares. The stock had previously closed at $244.25.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on LRCX. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $170.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Lam Research from $195.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lam Research news, Director Eric Brandt sold 35,000 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.60, for a total value of $7,896,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 253,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,235,848. The trade was a 12.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 12,936 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research during the first quarter valued at about $239,000. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 32.8% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Lam Research by 528.7% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Up 2.1%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $212.29 and a 200-day moving average of $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 stock has a market capitalization of $311.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.78.

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

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 21.31%.

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.