Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stake Boosted by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 896.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,015 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,007 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $1,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Lam Research by 1,001.9% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,410,320 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $246,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,838 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Architects LLC grew its stake in Lam Research by 897.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 264,781 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $19,125,000 after acquiring an additional 238,241 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Lam Research by 912.6% during the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 154,010 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,124,000 after acquiring an additional 138,801 shares in the last quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Lam Research by 988.6% during the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Lam Research by 940.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 33,106 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 29,923 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $77.93 on Thursday. Lam Research Co. has a 12 month low of $68.87 and a 12 month high of $113.00. The firm has a market cap of $100.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.59 and a 200-day moving average of $77.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 27.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research cut Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lam Research from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.22.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $9,907,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.