Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nineteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $221.84.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $243.31 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $220.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $249.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’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 value of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $741,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 11,822.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 19,911 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 19,744 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.2% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 4,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.7% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 23,091 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,197,000 after purchasing an additional 2,608 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $249,000. 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.