Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 1.3% Higher

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) traded up 1.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $178.55 and last traded at $176.95. 1,704,811 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 6,041,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.4 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.55. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.