Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) PT Lowered to $190.00 at Susquehanna

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price reduced by Susquehanna from $215.00 to $190.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $213.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $195.58 and its 200 day moving average is $209.83. The company has a market cap of $177.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,854,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,762,000 after acquiring an additional 116,808 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,070,167,000 after acquiring an additional 490,597 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after acquiring an additional 81,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,520,000 after acquiring an additional 438,691 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.