Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Trading Down 9.8% – Time to Sell?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) was down 9.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $302.74 and last traded at $303.28. Approximately 13,220,670 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the average daily volume of 10,774,810 shares. The stock had previously closed at $336.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on LRCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lam Research from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays set a $275.00 price objective on Lam Research and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Lam Research from $265.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $303.30.

Lam Research Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $379.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.22, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.18.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 30.94% and a return on equity of 66.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Lam Research has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Analysts predict that Lam Research Corporation will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is presently 19.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 18,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.14, for a total value of $4,635,893.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 66,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,872,153.06. This represents a 21.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ava Harter sold 6,010 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.66, for a total transaction of $1,554,546.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 53,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,762,005.30. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 31,839 shares of company stock valued at $8,561,667 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Lam Research by 1,032.4% during the fourth 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 period. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the 1st quarter valued at about $239,000. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the 2nd quarter valued at about $253,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 100,528 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,785,000 after purchasing an additional 2,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 5,206.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 796 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.