Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Trading Up 2.2% – Still a Buy?

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) shares shot up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $239.52 and last traded at $233.31. 9,425,961 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 12,187,213 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LRCX. Zacks Research upgraded Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Lam Research from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lam Research from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lam Research from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lam Research from $165.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.35.

Lam Research Stock Up 2.2%

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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.13. The stock has a market cap of $291.35 billion, a PE ratio of 47.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given 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 currently 21.31%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other news, insider Ava Harter sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.50, for a total transaction of $930,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,718,912.50. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 50,057 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.03, for a total transaction of $11,214,269.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,081,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,334,371.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 130,886 shares of company stock worth $29,658,802 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lam Research by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,974,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $17,537,447,000 after purchasing an additional 364,949 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,817,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,024,684,000 after purchasing an additional 265,805 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,747,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,764,117,000 after purchasing an additional 126,613 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,821,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,906,559,000 after buying an additional 1,638,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth $3,645,427,000. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

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.