Short Interest in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Declines By 17.3%

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,100,000 shares, a decline of 17.3% from the July 15th total of 2,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LRCX opened at $871.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $972.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $945.25. Lam Research has a 1-year low of $574.42 and a 1-year high of $1,130.00. The firm has a market cap of $113.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.48.

Lam Research shares are scheduled to split on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.58 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.98 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lam Research will post 35.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total transaction of $4,654,845.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Lam Research news, CEO Timothy Archer sold 9,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,070.39, for a total value of $10,329,263.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,639 shares in the company, valued at $90,596,739.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,715. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 378 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Telos Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 634 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dock Street Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth about $247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LRCX has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,100.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Lam Research from $880.00 to $850.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. B. Riley raised their target price on Lam Research from $1,130.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,006.10.

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.