Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nineteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $224.84.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 123.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $407,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $206.47 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $170.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $229.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.