Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Up 2.3% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Lam Research Corporation's shares rose 2.3% to $101.43, with trading volume significantly lower at approximately 1.79 million shares compared to its average daily volume of nearly 11.93 million shares.
• Analysts generally have a positive outlook for Lam Research, with multiple firms raising their price targets, leading to a consensus target price of $107.09 and a "Moderate Buy" rating for the company.
• The company reported a strong earnings performance, achieving $1.33 EPS for the quarter, surpassing expectations, and experiencing a 33.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Shares of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) were up 2.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $101.26 and last traded at $101.43. Approximately 1,789,484 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 11,930,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on LRCX shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Argus increased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.09.

Lam Research Trading Up 0.2%

The company's 50 day moving average price is $95.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.19. The company has a market cap of $130.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.65. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. Lam Research had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 58.17%. The company had revenue of $5.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Lam Research's quarterly revenue was up 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Lam Research Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LRCX. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.