Gradient Investments LLC Purchases 199,075 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 1,077.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 217,557 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 199,075 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $15,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 1,394.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,123,440,000 after buying an additional 15,005,178 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth $175,652,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth $35,253,000. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 1,129.8% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 482,156 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,825,000 after purchasing an additional 442,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARS Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lam Research by 908.9% during the 4th quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 490,881 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,456,000 after purchasing an additional 442,224 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LRCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Lam Research from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research cut Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Lam Research from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.77.

Lam Research Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $79.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $75.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Lam Research Co. has a 12-month low of $68.87 and a 12-month high of $113.00.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Lam Research Profile

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.