Short Interest in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Rises By 6.6%

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,710,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the October 15th total of 15,680,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at $2,645,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 854 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 4,814 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 20.0% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 71,659 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $14,778,000 after buying an additional 11,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $224,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.1 %

AMAT opened at $170.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $140.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $190.75 and a 200-day moving average of $206.68. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $144.57 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.71%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.