William Blair Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Lam Research Corporation $LRCX

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management slashed its Lam Research stake by 94% in the fourth quarter, selling 1.73 million shares and leaving it with 110,668 shares worth about $18.9 million.
• Lam Research posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.47 beating estimates and revenue of $5.84 billion also topping expectations; revenue rose 23.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish on LRCX, with 27 Buy ratings and an average price target of $293.46, even as insiders recently sold shares and the stock traded near its 52-week high.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 94.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,668 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,732,948 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings in Lam Research were worth $18,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lam Research by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank lifted its stake in Lam Research by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 4,615 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Plancorp LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company's stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $305.35 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $255.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.78. Lam Research Corporation has a 1-year low of $79.49 and a 1-year high of $309.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $381.86 billion, a PE ratio of 57.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.11. Lam Research had a return on equity of 66.21% and a net margin of 30.94%.The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Lam Research's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Lam Research has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lam Research Corporation will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LRCX. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lam Research from $285.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays set a $275.00 target price on Lam Research and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Lam Research from $350.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Lam Research from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Lam Research from $175.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $293.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ava Harter sold 6,010 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.66, for a total transaction of $1,554,546.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 53,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,762,005.30. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 50,057 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.03, for a total value of $11,214,269.71. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,081,705 shares in the company, valued at $242,334,371.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 120,066 shares of company stock valued at $27,953,242 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

About Lam Research

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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