Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $235.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $228.90.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $201.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.98. The company has a market cap of $167.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is 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.