Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Reaches New 52-Week Low - What's Next?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $66.93 and last traded at $67.28, with a volume of 5738323 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on LRCX. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lam Research from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Lam Research from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.59.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $77.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business's fifty day moving average is $77.41 and its 200-day moving average is $76.73.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 51.86%. As a group, research analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research's payout ratio is 27.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $9,907,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lam Research by 892.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,787,727 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,724,498,000 after purchasing an additional 108,619,564 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 1,032.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,031,194 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,891,453,000 after acquiring an additional 36,496,689 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Lam Research by 950.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,543,915 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,495,128,000 after acquiring an additional 31,255,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lam Research by 907.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,428,010 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,265,610,000 after acquiring an additional 28,307,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lam Research in the 4th quarter worth $1,661,672,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company's stock.

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.