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

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $884.89, but opened at $909.33. Lam Research shares last traded at $905.51, with a volume of 288,362 shares changing hands.

The semiconductor company reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.26 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 45.76%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.99 earnings per share.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Lam Research in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $700.00 to $912.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $880.00 to $850.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $950.85.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total value of $5,073,255.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total value of $5,073,255.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total transaction of $857,330.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $10,246,168.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,029 shares of company stock worth $6,559,489 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 613 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,023,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Busey Bank now owns 869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 525 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Stock Up 2.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $121.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $943.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $809.10.

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.