Sentry Investment Management LLC Acquires 4,826 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 760.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,461 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,826 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Perspectives Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 908.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. West Oak Capital LLC grew 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 last quarter. Finally, Country Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Stock Down 3.1 %

LRCX stock opened at $83.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.10. Lam Research Co. has a 12 month low of $68.87 and a 12 month high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued 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 yield of 1.10%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on LRCX. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised shares of Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Susquehanna raised shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lam Research currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.22.

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.