Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 0.4%

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shot up 0.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $243.50 and last traded at $241.85. 524,273 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 5,715,610 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $220.13 and its 200-day moving average is $197.19. The stock has a market cap of $202.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JT Stratford LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,041 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.9% in the first quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.