Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,671 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 366 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $15,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LRCX. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in Lam Research by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,781 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Lam Research by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group boosted its position in Lam Research by 23.1% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 3,528 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,757,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in Lam Research by 142.6% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of Lam Research stock traded down $22.09 on Friday, reaching $733.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,552,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,077,419. The company has a market capitalization of $95.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.48. Lam Research Co. has a 52-week low of $574.42 and a 52-week high of $1,130.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $901.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $938.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Lam Research shares are set to split before the market opens on Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $8.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.58 by $0.56. Lam Research had a return on equity of 48.71% and a net margin of 25.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 35.2 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 33.84%.

Lam Research announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LRCX. TD Cowen raised their price target on Lam Research from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Lam Research from $865.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on Lam Research from $1,130.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lam Research has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,006.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total value of $4,654,845.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,239,346.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 1,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,056.99, for a total value of $1,712,323.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,535,456.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,326 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,715. Insiders own 0.32% 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.