Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) had its price target hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Lam Research in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.59.

Lam Research Stock Down 2.9 %

LRCX opened at $72.61 on Friday. Lam Research has a 1-year low of $68.87 and a 1-year high of $113.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $93.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is 27.96%.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,117,560. This trade represents a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LRCX. DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $521,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at $1,701,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Lam Research by 1,399.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 263,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $19,023,000 after acquiring an additional 245,809 shares during the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new stake in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth $7,223,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the fourth quarter worth $366,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.