Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $74.51, but opened at $77.45. Lam Research shares last traded at $75.23, with a volume of 3,161,825 shares traded.

The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 52.58%.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 27.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LRCX. KeyCorp raised Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.72.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 1,394.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,123,440,000 after purchasing an additional 15,005,178 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,886,676 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,817,113,000 after purchasing an additional 94,086 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 827.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,160,523 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $228,285,000 after buying an additional 2,819,668 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,120,511 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,539,413,000 after buying an additional 64,053 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in Lam Research by 1,488.8% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,069,002 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $221,674,000 after buying an additional 2,875,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $103.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.45.

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.