Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $250.00 price target on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded down $17.12 on Friday, reaching $168.88. The stock had a trading volume of 16,287,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,137,177. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.88 and a 200-day moving average of $206.73. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $141.94 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 4.3% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,311 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Savoie Capital LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Savoie Capital LLC now owns 87,695 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $17,719,000 after acquiring an additional 10,400 shares during the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $374,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 690,160 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $139,447,000 after acquiring an additional 355,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.