First Interstate Bank Increases Stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

First Interstate Bank raised its position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 363 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Whale Capital LLP increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 112,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $70,386,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 32,411.1% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 14,630 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,459,000 after purchasing an additional 14,585 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth about $7,930,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 63,809 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,994,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Price Performance

LRCX traded down $26.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $937.16. 154,734 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,005,124. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $944.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $796.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $122.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.51. Lam Research Co. has a 1 year low of $482.74 and a 1 year high of $1,007.39.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 44.47% and a net margin of 24.15%. Lam Research’s quarterly revenue was down 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $10.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 28.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Christina Corrreia sold 647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $628,903.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,541 shares in the company, valued at $5,386,018.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Christina Corrreia sold 647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $628,903.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,386,018.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $857,330.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,246,168.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,029 shares of company stock worth $6,559,489 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LRCX has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Lam Research from $900.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $1,000.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Lam Research from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $800.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $710.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $875.55.

Lam Research Profile

Lam Research Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes, and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company offers ALTUS systems to deposit conformal films for tungsten metallization applications; SABRE electrochemical deposition products for copper interconnect transition that offers copper damascene manufacturing; SOLA ultraviolet thermal processing products for film treatments; and VECTOR plasma-enhanced CVD ALD products.