Nomura Holdings Inc. Increases Stock Position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX - Free Report) by 1,590.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,561 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 114,372 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Lam Research were worth $8,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Lam Research by 339.3% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 18,762 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 14,491 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Lam Research by 893.3% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,470 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 4,020 shares during the last quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 843.4% during the fourth quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 3,576 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 483.3% during the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,074 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 2,547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth $376,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company's stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LRCX traded down $0.36 on Friday, reaching $84.43. 10,088,878 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,296,335. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $108.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.64. Lam Research Co. has a 52 week low of $56.32 and a 52 week high of $113.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.46.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LRCX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Lam Research from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Lam Research from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Lam Research from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.56.

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.