Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price Down 4% – Here’s What Happened

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price was down 4% on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $218.50 and last traded at $221.43. 14,532,871 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 35% from the average session volume of 10,792,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LRCX. Wall Street Zen raised Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $340.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price (down from $450.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $435.00 target price (down from $450.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lam Research from $325.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $360.23.

Lam Research Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $276.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.48.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.02. Lam Research had a return on equity of 72.15% and a net margin of 32.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 54.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 19.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ava Harter sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.46, for a total value of $1,512,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,843,056.52. This trade represents a 10.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bethany Mayer sold 9,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.74, for a total transaction of $3,007,970.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,607,966.30. This trade represents a 31.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Polaris Financial Partners purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,814,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 5.5% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,244,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,872,426,000 after buying an additional 584,489 shares during the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 42.0% in the first quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP now owns 259,921 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $55,532,000 after buying an additional 76,840 shares during the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in Lam Research during the first quarter worth about $59,973,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Lam Research by 50.7% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,383 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,987,000 after acquiring an additional 12,574 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is a semiconductor equipment company that develops and manufactures systems used to fabricate integrated circuits. Its technologies support key stages of wafer processing, helping semiconductor manufacturers create the increasingly complex structures found in memory, logic and other types of chips.

The company’s product portfolio includes etch systems, which selectively remove materials from wafers; deposition systems, which apply thin films; and cleaning solutions used to remove contaminants and residue during manufacturing.