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

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $197.33.

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.4 %

AMAT opened at $207.86 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.87. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $109.00 and a 52 week high of $214.91. The company has a market capitalization of $172.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after buying an additional 973,218 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,720,928,000 after buying an additional 301,010 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,048,000 after buying an additional 456,865 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.