Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 926.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,199 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,234 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $4,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Lam Research during the 3rd quarter worth about $245,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 900.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its stake in Lam Research by 908.8% during the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $73.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.28. Lam Research Co. has a 52 week low of $68.87 and a 52 week high of $113.00. The company has a market cap of $94.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. 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 1.25%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LRCX. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.59.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

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 value of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.