Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 1%

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price rose 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $190.41 and last traded at $189.54. Approximately 717,517 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 6,056,140 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.00.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $202.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $154.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JT Stratford LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 5.6% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.