Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Down 4.4% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Lam Research Corporation's stock price fell by 4.4% to as low as $90.94 on Thursday, with a trading volume decline of 17% from its average.
• Analyst ratings have shown increased price targets for Lam Research, with upgrades from Wells Fargo, Evercore ISI, Raymond James, and TD Cowen, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.05.
• Lam Research reported earnings of $1.33 per share for the last quarter, outperforming estimates, with a 33.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $5.17 billion.

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) shares traded down 4.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $90.94 and last traded at $94.77. 9,875,732 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 11,865,473 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $98.00 target price on shares of Lam Research and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Summit Insights cut shares of Lam Research from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $70.00 target price on shares of Lam Research and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.27.

Lam Research Trading Up 1.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $123.15 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.68. The company's fifty day moving average is $93.65 and its 200-day moving average is $82.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $5.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 59.69%. Lam Research's revenue was up 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lam Research Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1,032.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,189 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 12,936 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 8,156.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,991,718 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $143,862,000 after buying an additional 1,967,594 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 882.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 8,165 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $592,000 after buying an additional 7,334 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 522.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,088,085 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $439,742,000 after buying an additional 5,109,310 shares during the period. Finally, Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth $506,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Company 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.