Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 42.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,278 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 928 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Lam Research were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 56.7% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 47 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider George M. Schisler sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $908.21, for a total transaction of $363,284.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,661 shares in the company, valued at $5,141,376.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider George M. Schisler sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $908.21, for a total transaction of $363,284.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,141,376.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Abhijit Y. Talwalkar sold 882 shares of Lam Research 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 directly owns 10,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,246,168.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,489 shares of company stock valued at $6,978,065. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $825.00 to $865.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Lam Research from $880.00 to $850.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lam Research from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. B. Riley raised shares of Lam Research from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $870.00 to $1,100.00 in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,030.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $950.85.

Lam Research Stock Performance

NASDAQ LRCX traded up $16.01 on Monday, reaching $924.54. 754,472 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,063,677. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Lam Research Co. has a one year low of $512.09 and a one year high of $1,007.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.51. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $941.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $822.52.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.26 by $0.53. Lam Research had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 45.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.99 EPS. The company's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 29.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $2.00 per share. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.42%.

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.