Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stake Increased by J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC

J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 881.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 164,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 147,930 shares during the quarter. Lam Research accounts for about 2.0% of J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. J.P. Marvel Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $11,897,000 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 stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 1,394.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,081,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,123,440,000 after purchasing an additional 15,005,178 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,886,676 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,817,113,000 after purchasing an additional 94,086 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 827.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,160,523 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $228,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819,668 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,120,511 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,539,413,000 after purchasing an additional 64,053 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Lam Research by 1,488.8% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,069,002 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $221,674,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875,843 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of Lam Research stock opened at $82.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.99. Lam Research Co. has a 52 week low of $68.87 and a 52 week high of $113.00. The stock has a market cap of $106.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.46.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lam Research Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LRCX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Lam Research from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Lam Research from $90.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lam Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. B. Riley reduced their price target 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $95.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lam Research presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.72.

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.