Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $230.00. The stock had previously closed at $211.83, but opened at $204.95. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. Applied Materials shares last traded at $204.67, with a volume of 3,258,732 shares trading hands.
AMAT has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.56.
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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after acquiring an additional 360,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $1,514,814,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.
Applied Materials Price Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.78 and a 200 day moving average of $209.13. The stock has a market cap of $172.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 $2.01 by $0.11. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.
Applied Materials Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.