Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Announces $0.40 Quarterly Dividend

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 12th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the manufacturing equipment provider on Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th.

Applied Materials has increased its dividend by an average of 17.4% annually over the last three years. Applied Materials has a payout ratio of 15.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Applied Materials to earn $10.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.7%.

Applied Materials Stock Down 8.2 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $169.20 on Tuesday. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.10.

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.