Brokerages Set Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target at $228.90

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $229.14.

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 14,855 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Connectus Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 77,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,543,000 after buying an additional 11,710 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 390,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $63,342,000 after buying an additional 6,022 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 73,035 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,837,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 12,664 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $205.06 on Monday. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $194.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.78. 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, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.