Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 20,578 Shares of Lam Research Corporation $LRCX

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 6.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 300,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 20,578 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $42,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,894,585,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Lam Research by 14.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 40,622,437 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,954,188,000 after acquiring an additional 5,102,589 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 34.1% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,594,574 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,029,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692,189 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 9,849,868 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $958,786,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 103.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,049,460 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $296,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550,842 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ava Harter sold 9,010 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.47, for a total transaction of $1,418,804.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 56,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,942,091.42. The trade was a 13.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 40,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.60, for a total transaction of $6,036,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 987,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,677,892.20. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 50,418 shares of company stock valued at $7,667,305 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Lam Research from $122.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, January 12th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Mizuho set a $220.00 price target on Lam Research and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.33.

Lam Research Price Performance

NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $224.06 on Wednesday. Lam Research Corporation has a one year low of $56.32 and a one year high of $229.57. The stock has a market cap of $281.42 billion, a PE ratio of 49.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $174.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.28.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 60.60% and a net margin of 29.66%.The company had revenue of $5.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lam Research Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.