6,269,236 Shares in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 6,269,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,827,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Perspectives Inc grew its position in Lam Research by 908.8% in the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lam Research by 900.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lam Research in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Lam Research by 836.6% during the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LRCX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer started coverage on Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Lam Research from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. 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 research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Lam Research from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lam Research has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.59.

Insider Transactions at Lam Research

In related news, SVP Seshasayee Varadarajan sold 110,080 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $16,117,560. This represents a 38.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lam Research Price Performance

Lam Research stock opened at $72.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $93.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $79.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.31. Lam Research Co. has a one year low of $68.87 and a one year high of $113.00.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.04. Lam Research had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 26.49%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lam Research Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio is 27.96%.

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.