Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 8,364,375 Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lam Research Corporation by 6.9% in Q1, owning over 10% of the company's shares, valued at approximately $9.39 billion.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their positions in Lam Research, with Brighton Jones LLC raising its holdings by 1,032.4% in Q4.
• Wall Street analysts remain optimistic about Lam Research, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $107.09, amid solid recent earnings growth.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,152,102 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,364,375 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.10% of Lam Research worth $9,389,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Lam Research by 950.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,543,915 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,495,128,000 after purchasing an additional 31,255,726 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1,067.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,869,244 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,146,235,000 after buying an additional 14,509,407 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Lam Research by 6,383.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,574,691 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $980,500,000 after acquiring an additional 13,365,317 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth $792,161,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its position in Lam Research by 6,419.6% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,440,028 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $537,393,000 after purchasing an additional 7,325,911 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ LRCX traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.94. 10,616,047 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,143,481. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.65. Lam Research Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.32 and a twelve month high of $102.59. The business's 50-day moving average is $94.56 and its 200-day moving average is $82.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 58.17% and a net margin of 29.07%. Lam Research's revenue was up 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lam Research Corporation will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Lam Research's payout ratio is 22.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LRCX. Wells Fargo & Company set a $98.00 target price on Lam Research and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Lam Research from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lam Research currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.09.

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.