California Public Employees Retirement System Raises Stock Position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 833.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,142,455 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 1,913,023 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Lam Research worth $154,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parisi Gray Wealth Management increased its stake in Lam Research by 652.9% during the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 8,350 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,241 shares during the last quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter worth about $815,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lam Research by 900.0% in the 4th quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lam Research by 51.9% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 215,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $175,800,000 after buying an additional 73,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Lam Research by 4,085.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 13,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,932,000 after buying an additional 13,075 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Stock Down 2.9 %

Lam Research stock opened at $72.61 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.34. The stock has a market cap of $93.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. Lam Research Co. has a 1-year low of $68.87 and a 1-year high of $113.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, 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 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. 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 Activity at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 179,084 shares of the company’s stock, 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 through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LRCX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Lam Research from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Lam Research from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna raised Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.59.

Lam Research Company 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.