Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Now Covered by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $260.00 price objective on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. B. Riley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.8 %

AMAT opened at $209.48 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Applied Materials has a one year low of $109.00 and a one year high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.06%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $930,505,000. Cowa LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $76,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 79,147.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,726,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $557,639,000 after buying an additional 5,719,196 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after buying an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,388,933,000 after buying an additional 1,925,722 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.