Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $200.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $210.00 to $200.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on AMAT. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed 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. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $178.32 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $145.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $149.84 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 1,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 88.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 61,346 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $14,477,000 after acquiring an additional 28,835 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 91,056 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,488,000 after buying an additional 1,446 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $337,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Materials

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.