Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) Stock Price Down 5.9% After Insider Selling

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)’s stock price fell 5.9% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $215.79 and last traded at $217.27. 12,091,126 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 12,435,343 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.00.

Specifically, insider Ava Harter sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.50, for a total transaction of $930,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 54,705 shares in the company, valued at $12,718,912.50. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas R. Bettinger sold 40,329 shares of Lam Research stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.22, for a total value of $9,284,542.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,054,012 shares in the company, valued at $242,654,642.64. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Lam Research from $225.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Lam Research from $170.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lam Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Lam Research from $181.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Lam Research in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.19.

Key Headlines Impacting Lam Research

Here are the key news stories impacting Lam Research this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lam’s recent financials and guidance support the recovery narrative: the company beat EPS and revenue estimates and issued upbeat quarterly guidance, giving investors confidence in demand cadence. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Operational news: Lam opened a Boise office to deepen R&D and manufacturing collaboration with Micron, reinforcing its role in memory and AI-related tool demand — a tangible growth catalyst if Micron’s capex continues. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/ratings flow is constructive (Zacks add to Strong Buy list and multiple firms lifting targets), which supports longer-term interest but doesn’t guarantee short-term moves. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presented at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference — useful color on demand/timing but no new guidance that would immediately change the outlook. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-triggered selling: memory and storage stocks plunged after overseas market moves and renewed energy-price concerns tied to geopolitical developments; that hit Lam intraday given its exposure to memory customers, creating volatility and downward pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: recent large sales by senior insiders (including the CFO’s multi‑million dollar Form 4) can prompt short-term investor concern and weigh on sentiment even though insiders retain substantial stakes. Read More.

Lam Research Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $278.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.69, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $219.78 and a 200 day moving average of $167.73.

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $5.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. Lam Research had a return on equity of 62.81% and a net margin of 30.22%.Lam Research’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Lam Research has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lam Research Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lam Research Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Lam Research’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lam Research

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LRCX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Lam Research by 1,032.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,189 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 12,936 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Lam Research in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Ignite Planners LLC raised its position in shares of Lam Research by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in Lam Research by 1.5% during the second quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 18,208 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in Lam Research in the second quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.61% of the company’s stock.

About Lam Research

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. Founded in 1980 by David K. Lam and headquartered in Fremont, California, the company develops and manufactures systems used in multiple stages of semiconductor device production, including thin film deposition, plasma etch, wafer cleaning and related process modules and automation.

Lam’s product portfolio covers core process technologies employed by logic and memory manufacturers, with equipment designed to support advanced-node patterning, 3D NAND and other emerging device architectures.