Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Lowered to $210.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $220.00 to $210.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $173.02 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $144.57 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dantai Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 42.1% in the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 8,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $20,257,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 257.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 265,560 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $53,656,000 after buying an additional 191,286 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 20,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,213,000 after acquiring an additional 4,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $13,493,000. 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.