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

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and fifteen have assigned 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 $218.95.

Several equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 592.9% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $192.05 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $173.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.95. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $156.78 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

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.