Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Shares Purchased by Argent Trust Co

Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,900 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $5,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LRCX. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth $476,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its position in Lam Research by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Lam Research by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 210,934 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $165,216,000 after buying an additional 4,052 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Lam Research by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,231,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Lam Research by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 22,040 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,263,000 after buying an additional 3,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LRCX opened at $766.04 on Wednesday. Lam Research Co. has a twelve month low of $574.42 and a twelve month high of $1,130.00. The company has a market cap of $100.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $855.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $929.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Lam Research’s stock is set to split on the morning of Thursday, October 3rd. The 10-1 split was announced on Tuesday, May 21st. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Wednesday, October 2nd.

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

Lam Research Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a boost from Lam Research’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.84%.

Lam Research announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $1,250.00 to $1,150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $990.00 to $893.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lam Research from $929.00 to $774.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $1,100.00 to $950.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,013.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy Archer sold 9,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,070.39, for a total transaction of $10,329,263.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,639 shares in the company, valued at $90,596,739.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lam Research news, CEO Timothy Archer sold 9,650 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,070.39, for a total transaction of $10,329,263.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,639 shares in the company, valued at $90,596,739.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Neil J. Fernandes sold 4,409 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,055.76, for a total transaction of $4,654,845.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,239,346.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,326 shares of company stock worth $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.