Morgan Stanley Trims Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Target Price to $774.00

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $929.00 to $774.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 2.05% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on LRCX. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Lam Research from $865.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.37.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $758.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $99.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $862.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $930.91. Lam Research has a 52 week low of $574.42 and a 52 week high of $1,130.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Lam Research shares are going to split before the market opens on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.58 by $0.56. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lam Research will post 35.2 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lam Research

In other news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total transaction of $1,712,323.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,535,456.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,062.26, for a total value of $687,282.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,219,945.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total transaction of $1,712,323.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,237 shares in the company, valued at $5,535,456.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,715. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at about $476,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in Lam Research by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Lam Research by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 210,934 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $165,216,000 after buying an additional 4,052 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,231,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 22,040 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,454 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

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.