Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Purchases 563,579 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its holdings in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 907.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 625,689 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 563,579 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $45,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Lam Research by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Country Trust Bank increased its holdings in Lam Research by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.22.

Lam Research Trading Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ LRCX opened at $83.34 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.54. The company has a market capitalization of $106.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.10. Lam Research Co. has a one year low of $68.87 and a one year high of $113.00.

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

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.29% 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.