South Dakota Investment Council Purchases 137,988 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 900.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,320 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 137,988 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $11,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its holdings in Lam Research by 908.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank raised its holdings in Lam Research by 900.0% during the 4th quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Finley Financial LLC bought a new stake in Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 84.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Performance

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $86.02 on Friday. Lam Research Co. has a one year low of $68.87 and a one year high of $113.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.46 and its 200 day moving average is $78.04. The company has a market capitalization of $110.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 2.54.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 51.86%. Sell-side analysts expect 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 dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s payout ratio is presently 27.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.22.

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.