Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $72.86, but opened at $76.18. Lam Research shares last traded at $76.02, with a volume of 3,870,257 shares changing hands.

The semiconductor company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.68% and a return on equity of 48.71%. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Lam Research Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LRCX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lam Research from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Lam Research from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $132.50 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total transaction of $528,928.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LRCX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,856,661 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,519,576,000 after buying an additional 144,914 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 5.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,959,151 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,875,023,000 after acquiring an additional 142,903 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,254,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,335,522,000 after acquiring an additional 89,470 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,075,893 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,145,664,000 after acquiring an additional 107,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 614,205 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $654,009,000 after purchasing an additional 25,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $100.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day moving average is $79.44 and its 200 day moving average is $89.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Lam Research Company 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.