Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1 Million Stock Position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 42.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,278 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 928 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Whale Capital LLP raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 112,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $70,386,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 491 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Lam Research by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Lam Research by 32,411.1% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 14,630 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,459,000 after buying an additional 14,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $7,930,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LRCX. Barclays raised their price target on Lam Research from $825.00 to $865.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $700.00 to $912.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. B. Riley raised shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $870.00 to $1,100.00 in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $950.85.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In related news, CAO Christina Corrreia sold 647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $628,903.41. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,541 shares in the company, valued at $5,386,018.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Christina Corrreia sold 647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total transaction of $628,903.41. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,386,018.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,089 shares of company stock worth $6,614,781 over the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lam Research Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Lam Research stock opened at $908.53 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $941.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $820.25. The company has a market capitalization of $118.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Lam Research Co. has a 12-month low of $507.19 and a 12-month high of $1,007.39.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.26 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 45.96%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 29.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 29.42%.

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.