Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) To Go Ex-Dividend on August 22nd

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 13th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the manufacturing equipment provider on Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd.

Applied Materials has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years. Applied Materials has a dividend payout ratio of 16.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $210.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $174.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. 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 report on Thursday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.