Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) traded up 1.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $237.82 and last traded at $235.59. 867,244 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 5,754,296 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $194.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $216.53 and its 200 day moving average is $194.73.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. RFP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 96.6% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.