Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) PT Set at $220.00 by Cantor Fitzgerald

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) received a $220.00 price target from stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 20.17% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on AMAT. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.24.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of AMAT opened at $183.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.14.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,061 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Old Port Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.5% during the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 2,730 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,506 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.