Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 13th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share by the manufacturing equipment provider on Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd.

Applied Materials has raised its dividend by an average of 11.9% per year over the last three years. Applied Materials has a payout ratio of 16.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Applied Materials to earn $9.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.0%.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.3 %

AMAT stock opened at $206.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $221.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.14.

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.