Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) had its price target lifted by Mizuho from $87.00 to $100.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna raised Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lam Research currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.22.

Lam Research Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of LRCX opened at $89.02 on Thursday. Lam Research has a 1-year low of $68.87 and a 1-year high of $113.00. 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 50 day simple moving average of $78.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.97. The stock has a market cap of $114.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.46.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. Equities analysts forecast that Lam Research will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is currently 27.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LRCX. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its stake in Lam Research by 908.8% during the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Lam Research by 900.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 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.