Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Short Interest Up 1,365.0% in September

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 32,230,000 shares, a growth of 1,365.0% from the September 15th total of 2,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 12,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Lam Research Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LRCX traded up $0.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $82.89. The stock had a trading volume of 6,528,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,962,768. Lam Research has a fifty-two week low of $57.44 and a fifty-two week high of $113.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.32. The stock has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.05, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.47.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.05. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lam Research will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Correia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $817.51, for a total value of $528,928.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,488,315.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Lam Research by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 47,377 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,664,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Lam Research by 12.8% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 73,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $59,907,000 after acquiring an additional 8,302 shares during the last quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new position in Lam Research in the third quarter valued at about $492,000. Polianta Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the third quarter valued at about $1,142,000. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 150.0% in the third quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,161,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LRCX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on Lam Research from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lam Research from $1,000.00 to $880.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Lam Research from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com lowered Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.28.

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.