Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Acquires 1,647,195 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 976.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,815,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,647,195 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.14% of Lam Research worth $141,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Lam Research by 810.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 97,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,047,000 after buying an additional 86,858 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,750,000. Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lam Research by 898.5% in the 4th quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 100,270 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,243,000 after purchasing an additional 90,228 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lam Research by 493.7% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,174 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 5,134 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Lam Research by 986.6% during the fourth quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 5,911 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lam Research Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LRCX opened at $79.01 on Friday. Lam Research Co. has a 52-week low of $68.87 and a 52-week high of $113.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.82. The stock has a market cap of $101.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LRCX. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp raised Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.22.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.