Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 1.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price shot up 1.5% during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $280.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $246.96 and last traded at $246.53. 968,418 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,680,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.86.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.04.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,598,500. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JT Stratford LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,041 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.0 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $213.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.