Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 156,076 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 498.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 187,394 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 156,076 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Lam Research were worth $13,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1,032.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,031,194 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,891,453,000 after buying an additional 36,496,689 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 950.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,543,915 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,495,128,000 after buying an additional 31,255,726 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $2,265,610,000 after purchasing an additional 28,307,499 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lam Research in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,661,672,000. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $84.43. 10,088,878 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,283,580. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $72.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.47. Lam Research Co. has a 52-week low of $56.32 and a 52-week high of $113.00. The company has a market cap of $108.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. The firm's revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LRCX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $70.00 target price on Lam Research and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lam Research from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus raised Lam Research to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Lam Research from $96.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Lam Research from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.56.

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.