Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,710,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the October 15th total of 15,680,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 763.7% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,072 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,693,000 after acquiring an additional 33,664 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 17.1% in the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 10,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.8% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,165 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.3% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,919 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,194,000 after buying an additional 1,952 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $170.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.68. Applied Materials has a one year low of $144.57 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.71% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.