Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 1%

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price shot up 1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $190.41 and last traded at $189.54. 717,517 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 6,056,140 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.00.

Applied Materials Trading Up 5.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $162.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $200.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.38.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. JT Stratford LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the first 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 period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.7% during the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.