Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Purchased by Element Capital Management LLC

Element Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 75.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth about $1,414,111,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Lam Research during the 1st quarter worth approximately $192,668,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 24.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 968,115 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $940,592,000 after acquiring an additional 191,230 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,856,661 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,519,576,000 after acquiring an additional 144,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 5.1% in 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 during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on LRCX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $1,025.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $865.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Lam Research from $1,130.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lam Research currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,015.63.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total transaction of $4,654,845.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,857 shares in the company, valued at $7,239,346.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy Archer sold 9,650 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,070.39, for a total value of $10,329,263.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,639 shares in the company, valued at $90,596,739.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,326 shares of company stock worth $17,383,715 in the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lam Research Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $769.72 on Friday. Lam Research Co. has a 1-year low of $574.42 and a 1-year high of $1,130.00. The firm has a market cap of $99.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $868.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $932.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

Lam Research’s stock is going to split before the market opens on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.58 by $0.56. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.68% and a return on equity of 48.71%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 35.2 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a positive change from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.42%.

Lam Research announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Lam Research

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.