Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 1.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $280.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $246.96 and last traded at $246.53. 968,418 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 5,680,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.86.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.04.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,598,500 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SRN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 5,889 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $1,122,000. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 24,182 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,024,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 50,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its position in Applied Materials by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 236,368 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $48,746,000 after acquiring an additional 58,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.29. The company has a market cap of $205.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.