South Dakota Investment Council Sells 4,040 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

South Dakota Investment Council cut its position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 4,040 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Lam Research were worth $13,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,857,918 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,164,490,000 after acquiring an additional 56,824 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Lam Research by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,642,367 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,029,386,000 after buying an additional 159,815 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,523,215 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $954,705,000 after buying an additional 134,558 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 600,594 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $474,271,000 after buying an additional 3,717 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 453,787 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $355,025,000 after acquiring an additional 48,482 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $885.00 to $1,130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Lam Research from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Lam Research from $800.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $1,200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $900.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $931.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lam Research news, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $10,246,168.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Christina Corrreia sold 647 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total transaction of $628,903.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,541 shares in the company, valued at $5,386,018.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $857,330.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,246,168.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,029 shares of company stock worth $6,559,489. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LRCX traded up $19.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $887.42. 981,354 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,057,222. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $944.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $805.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 3.06. Lam Research Co. has a one year low of $493.42 and a one year high of $1,007.39.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.46. Lam Research had a return on equity of 44.47% and a net margin of 24.15%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.71 EPS. Lam Research's revenue for the quarter was down 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 28.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Lam Research's payout ratio is presently 30.94%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.