Strategic Financial Services Inc. Buys 38,542 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 893.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,855 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 38,542 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $3,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its stake in Lam Research by 908.8% in the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 900.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lam Research in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Lam Research by 836.6% during the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. 84.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In other news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,084 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,560. The trade was a 38.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LRCX stock opened at $77.93 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.59 and its 200 day moving average is $77.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. Lam Research Co. has a 12-month low of $68.87 and a 12-month high of $113.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LRCX. Susquehanna raised shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their target price for the company from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp raised shares of Lam Research from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.22.

Lam Research Profile

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.