Ardevora Asset Management LLP Reduces Stock Position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Ardevora Asset Management LLP cut its holdings in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 58.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,041 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 11,355 shares during the period. Ardevora Asset Management LLP's holdings in Lam Research were worth $6,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LRCX. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lam Research by 860.0% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth $345,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at $4,136,000. Nikulski Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 4,575 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,584,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 53,949 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $42,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,377 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LRCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Lam Research from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Lam Research from $900.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Lam Research in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $1,200.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna upped their price target on Lam Research from $655.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lam Research from $930.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $931.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total value of $5,073,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,380,648.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total value of $5,073,255.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,095 shares in the company, valued at $20,380,648.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $857,330.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $10,246,168.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,029 shares of company stock valued at $6,559,489 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Lam Research Price Performance

Lam Research stock traded down $18.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $870.25. 1,354,476 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 814,695. The stock's fifty day moving average is $945.44 and its 200-day moving average is $802.29. Lam Research Co. has a 12 month low of $493.42 and a 12 month high of $1,007.39. The stock has a market cap of $114.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.06 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 44.47% and a net margin of 24.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 28.92 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Lam Research's payout ratio is 30.94%.

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.