Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $75.20, but opened at $72.75. Lam Research shares last traded at $71.79, with a volume of 2,231,706 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LRCX shares. StockNews.com lowered Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Lam Research from $99.00 to $89.30 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.24.

Lam Research Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $92.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $75.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lam Research Co. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.77%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. This represents a 13.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research in the 2nd quarter worth $212,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 87.6% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 334 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in Lam Research by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 220 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lam Research in the 2nd quarter worth about $237,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.