Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT – Get a rating) earned a consensus “moderate buy” recommendation from the twenty-seven rating agencies that cover the company, MarketBeat reports. Six equity research analysts rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen gave the company a buy recommendation. The 12-month average price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock over the past year is $139.56.
AMAT has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered its price target on Applied Materials shares from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a Friday, August 19 research report. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its price target on Applied Materials shares from $110.00 to $115.00 in a Friday, August 19 research report. Bank of America lowered its price target on Applied Materials shares from $125.00 to $102.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a Friday, Oct. 7 research report. Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a target price of $109.00 (down from $95.00 previously) on Applied Materials shares in a Tuesday, August 30 research note. Finally, B. Riley lowered his price target on Applied Materials shares from $140.00 to $125.00 in a Tuesday, October 4 research report.
Applied materials are trading down 0.4%
Applied Materials shares opened at $76.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.26 and a leverage ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.70. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $74.97 and a 12-month high of $167.06.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get a rating) last announced its results on Thursday, August 18. The manufacturing equipment provider reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.94 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.16. The company posted revenue of $6.52 billion in the quarter, versus $6.27 billion expected by analysts. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 56.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter increased 5.2% on an annual basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted EPS of $1.90. Research analysts expect Applied Materials to post earnings per share of 7.68 for the current fiscal year.
Applied Materials Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 15. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 25 will receive a dividend of $0.26. This represents an annualized dividend of $1.04 and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 23. Applied Materials’ dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.90%.
Institutional entries and exits
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently changed their positions in the stock. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its position in Applied Materials shares by 3.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 16,118 shares of the manufacturing equipment supplier worth $1,321,000 after buying an additional 514 shares last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in Applied Materials shares by 27.9% in the third quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 6,184 shares of the manufacturing equipment supplier worth $507,000 after buying 1,349 additional shares last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in Applied Materials shares by 1.8% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 23,857 shares of the manufacturing equipment supplier worth $1,955,000 after buying an additional 429 shares last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials shares by 31.6% in the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,514 shares of the manufacturing equipment supplier worth $288,000 after buying an additional 844 shares last quarter. Finally, Sawtooth Solutions LLC increased its position in Applied Materials shares by 44.0% in the third quarter. Sawtooth Solutions LLC now owns 21,513 shares of the manufacturing equipment supplier worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.99% of the company’s shares.
About Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Global Applied Services and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures and sells various manufacturing equipment used to manufacture semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.
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