Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Receives $218.71 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and fifteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $218.00.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Barclays dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $183.20 on Friday. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $175.20 and its 200-day moving average is $185.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 56 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.