Analysts Set Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target at $233.14

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $232.00.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

AMAT opened at $186.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $200.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.38.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.