Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Makes New Investment in Lam Research Corporation $LRCX

Key Points

• Argus Investors Counsel initiated a new stake in Lam Research during the first quarter, buying 3,127 shares worth about $668,000.
• Institutional ownership in Lam Research remains very high, with major investors like Norges Bank and Price T Rowe making large additions; overall, 84.61% of the stock is held by institutions and hedge funds.
• Analysts remain mostly constructive on LRCX despite some mixed calls, with 28 Buy ratings and an average target price of $345.39, while the company also recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,127 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $668,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth $3,645,427,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 352.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,695,210 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,344,347,000 after purchasing an additional 10,666,540 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 781.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,340,865 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,518,542,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053,978 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,110,560 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,730,724,000 after purchasing an additional 3,671,073 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 235.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,199,441 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $890,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,649,553 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on LRCX shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Lam Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a report on Monday, June 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $330.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. New Street Research boosted their price target on Lam Research from $235.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Lam Research from $305.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $345.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lam Research news, insider Ava Harter sold 6,010 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.66, for a total value of $1,554,546.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 53,205 shares in the company, valued at $13,762,005.30. The trade was a 10.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eric Brandt sold 54,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.80, for a total transaction of $19,118,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 199,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,881,114. The trade was a 21.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 86,339 shares of company stock valued at $27,680,267 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $351.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $439.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.30, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $326.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.02. Lam Research Corporation has a twelve month low of $90.93 and a twelve month high of $438.50.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.70 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 30.94% and a return on equity of 66.21%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Lam Research has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Lam Research's payout ratio is 19.62%.

Lam Research Company Profile

Lam Research Corporation NASDAQ: LRCX is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Founded in 1980 by David K. Lam and headquartered in Fremont, California, the company develops and manufactures systems used in multiple stages of semiconductor device production, including thin film deposition, plasma etch, wafer cleaning and related process modules and automation.

Lam's product portfolio covers core process technologies employed by logic and memory manufacturers, with equipment designed to support advanced-node patterning, 3D NAND and other emerging device architectures.

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