Howard Capital Management Inc. Invests $2.61 Million in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Howard Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 36,103 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,608,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its position in Lam Research by 908.8% during the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in Lam Research by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank increased its position in Lam Research by 900.0% during the fourth quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Finley Financial LLC acquired a new position in Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,117,560. The trade was a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LRCX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research downgraded Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lowered their target price on Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.22.

Lam Research Stock Down 3.4 %

LRCX opened at $86.02 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.04. 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 cap of $110.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. 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, 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%. Analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business 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. 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 1.07%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.96%.

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.