Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Lam Research Call Options (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 48,997 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 16% compared to the typical daily volume of 42,219 call options.

Lam Research Stock Up 7.6 %

Shares of LRCX traded up $5.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $80.89. 14,706,099 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,112,000. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Lam Research has a twelve month low of $68.87 and a twelve month high of $113.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.93. The stock has a market cap of $104.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.45.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 50.60% and a net margin of 26.02%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lam Research will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Lam Research Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LRCX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $132.50 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas raised Lam Research to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lam Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.72.

Institutional Trading of Lam Research

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 871.8% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 62,130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,488,000 after purchasing an additional 55,737 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,313,000. DeDora Capital Inc. grew its position in Lam Research by 843.4% during the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 5,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 4,841 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Lam Research by 415.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,951 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 12,053 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Lam Research by 829.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,023,768 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $73,947,000 after acquiring an additional 913,638 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.61% 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.