Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 15,427 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 1,421.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,512 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,427 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $1,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Financial Perspectives Inc grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 908.8% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 900.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 836.6% during the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,117,560. The trade was a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Down 9.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LRCX opened at $59.09 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $75.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Lam Research Co. has a 12 month low of $56.89 and a 12 month high of $113.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.08.

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

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LRCX. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.59.

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.