Carret Asset Management LLC Sells 159 Shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Carret Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. Lam Research makes up 0.9% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lam Research were worth $7,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Lam Research by 56.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 47 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lam Research during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 84.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lam Research Price Performance

Shares of LRCX traded down $2.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $884.89. 1,946,455 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,068,471. The stock has a market cap of $116.01 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $944.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $805.82. Lam Research Co. has a 12 month low of $493.42 and a 12 month high of $1,007.39.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The semiconductor company reported $7.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.06 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 44.47% and a net margin of 24.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $10.71 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 28.92 EPS for the current year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is 30.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LRCX. B. Riley raised Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $870.00 to $1,100.00 in a report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $885.00 to $1,130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $900.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $930.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $950.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $931.85.

Insider Activity at Lam Research

In related news, CAO Christina Corrreia sold 647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total transaction of $628,903.41. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,386,018.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Lam Research news, CAO Christina Corrreia sold 647 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.03, for a total value of $628,903.41. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,386,018.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 5,500 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.41, for a total value of $5,073,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,095 shares in the company, valued at $20,380,648.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,029 shares of company stock valued at $6,559,489. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.