Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Lowered to $225.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target decreased by Needham & Company LLC from $240.00 to $225.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on AMAT. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $170.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.75 and a 200 day moving average of $206.68. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.71%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 763.7% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,072 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,693,000 after buying an additional 33,664 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in Applied Materials by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 10,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,165 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,919 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,952 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.