Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $66.93 and last traded at $67.28, with a volume of 5738323 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $73.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna raised shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Lam Research from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.59.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $83.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.28. 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 (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%. Analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Perspectives Inc grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 900.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.