Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Raises Stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 810.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 2,715 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Lam Research by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 238,275 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $194,451,000 after buying an additional 39,725 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 2.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 47,377 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 68.7% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 35,991 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,372,000 after acquiring an additional 14,658 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lam Research by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 215,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $175,800,000 after purchasing an additional 73,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lam Research by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 340,855 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $278,165,000 after purchasing an additional 28,089 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Price Performance

NASDAQ LRCX traded down $2.58 on Friday, reaching $74.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,253,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,143,671. Lam Research Co. has a twelve month low of $68.87 and a twelve month high of $113.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.01. The stock has a market cap of $95.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.45.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 50.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is presently 29.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lam Research currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.91.

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.