Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,311 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Lam Research accounts for approximately 1.9% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $12,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 1,394.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,123,440,000 after acquiring an additional 15,005,178 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Lam Research by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,871,473 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,527,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,093 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Lam Research by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,254,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,335,522,000 after buying an additional 89,470 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 822,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $671,307,000 after buying an additional 10,868 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Lam Research by 4.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 614,205 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $654,009,000 after acquiring an additional 25,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LRCX. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Lam Research from $81.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas upgraded Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.97.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $73.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.48. Lam Research Co. has a fifty-two week low of $68.72 and a fifty-two week high of $113.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.16.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.02% and a return on equity of 50.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.85 EPS. Analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Lam Research’s payout ratio is presently 29.77%.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total transaction of $528,928.97. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,488,315.17. The trade was a 13.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company 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.