American Century Companies Inc. Has $94.39 Million Stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 1,093.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,306,829 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,197,337 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $94,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. West Oak Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Lam Research by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 10,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,364,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Lam Research by 5.7% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Lam Research by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 1,765 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Price Performance

LRCX stock opened at $77.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.54. Lam Research Co. has a 52-week low of $68.87 and a 52-week high of $113.00. The company has a market capitalization of $100.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.30.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LRCX. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna raised Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.06.

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.