Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Lam Research Call Options (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Key Points

• Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) experienced a significant surge in call option trading, with 44,863 call options purchased, marking a 72% increase over its typical daily volume.
• Several analysts adjusted their ratings on Lam Research, with B. Riley maintaining a "buy" rating and revising its price target up to $115.00, while Summit Insights downgraded it to a "hold" rating.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.26 per share, reflecting a strategy to enhance shareholder returns amid strong quarterly earnings reports.

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 44,863 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 72% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,121 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Summit Insights lowered shares of Lam Research from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $98.00 price target on Lam Research and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Lam Research from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lam Research currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.52.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,609,265 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $12,713,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,163 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Lam Research by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,551,547 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,810,172,000 after purchasing an additional 629,666 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 40,622,437 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,954,188,000 after purchasing an additional 5,102,589 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 3.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,802,736 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,280,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,405 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,894,585,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lam Research Stock Up 7.4%

Shares of LRCX traded up $7.92 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $115.28. 10,366,038 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,846,826. Lam Research has a 1-year low of $56.32 and a 1-year high of $115.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $145.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.76.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $5.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.99 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 58.17% and a net margin of 29.07%.Lam Research's quarterly revenue was up 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Lam Research has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.100-1.300 EPS. Research analysts expect that Lam Research will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 24th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 24th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Lam Research's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Lam Research's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.12%.

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.

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