Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $250.00 price objective on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Applied Materials’ FY2024 earnings at $8.52 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $233.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $207.90 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $222.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 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 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JT Stratford LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 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.